Lotus Launches E21 Formula 1 Car

Lotus has revealed its 2013 Formula 1 chassis that it calls the E21. It is the first team to show its 2013 car, and the biggest surprise is how little change there is. As expected with few changes in the rules, the look of the car has not changed much. 

"The rules for 2013 are very, very similar to 2012 so you can expect a lot of family resemblance from the 2012 car, but the devil is in the detail and it adds up to a significant amount of performance," said designer James Allison.

One slight surprise is that the team kept the stepped nose that brought some controversy when the 2012 Formula 1 cars were revealed. Allison said that the team had the option to install a cosmetic panel that would have smoothed out the look, but the panel would have added a few grams to the car's weight without any improvement in performance. 

The change in the car is the slight change in livery. It has the same black and gold look at last year but with more red trim. The most obvious addition is that the upper air intake is red and says "Kimi" in white letters. Lotus did not show a second car. We do not know how the graphic will look on Romain Grosjean's car.

The team briefly talked about its hopes in the new season. It wants to keep up the momentum from last year when Kimi Raikkonen was third place in the World Drivers' Championship. For the 2013 season, its goal is to be third place in the 2013 World Constructors' Championship.