Q&A with Nick Chester - Lotus to test new nose in Austin

"This will be for evaluation and aero data logging"

By Franck Drui

24 October 2014 - 20:15
Q&A with Nick Chester - Lotus (...)

How should Austin suit us?

I think we should certainly be better than in Sochi. It’s not so much a power track as some of the circuits we’ve been to. It’s got some high-speed corners that we prefer so it’s fair to say we’re looking forward to it.

What is the purpose of running with the new nose in Austin?

This will be for evaluation and aero data logging. It’s something we’re doing as part of our preparations for the E23 Hybrid, next year’s car. It won’t be the definite launch E23 nose but it is an E23-style nose that we are putting on an E22 for evaluation. We don’t expect it to perform as such on the current car as it hasn’t been optimised for the E22 but it will still be an interesting comparison.

Will we see it in FP1 only?

Yes, although we are yet to decide which driver will run it.

How far along are we with E23 preparations?

Nearly all of the resources are on the E23 now and a good chunk of them have been for some time. We are starting to laminate the first race chassis which is on schedule. Gearboxes have been cast and will be machined shortly. We have pretty much finalised the cooling system. We have also been discussing various aspects with Mercedes while we finalise the power unit installation. Most of the suspension is designed now, so we are really a good way along.

Have we any insight to the issues faced in Sochi?

We struggled in Sochi and we have identified a few reasons for that. One is that the tarmac was very new and there was a lot of bitumen on the surface, making it very light on tyres. The tyre compounds that were taken to the race, the medium and the hard, were way too hard for Sochi. This was the same for everybody though, not just us. For some teams with a little bit more downforce or more power, they could work the tyres better than we could, so we particularly struggled to get the tyres working well. Even qualifying on the soft tyre, it took five laps to get the tyres to work properly which is not really desirable. That accentuated some of the differences. Also Sochi turned out to be a circuit with high sensitivity to power. We suspected as much from simulation runs but the extent of it really became apparent when we were there. That made it very tricky for us because for Sector 1 particularly which only has two corners in it, you really need to take wing off but then for Sector 3, you need a lot of wing. We took wing off for qualifying, really to try and improve Sector 1 but then I think we hurt the car too much in other sectors so it was a calculated risk that didn’t pay off. Certainly, we’ve learnt a lot for our return for 2015.

How big a change is it moving to a new engine supplier for the future?

It’s a big change. During all the time I’ve been at Enstone, we’re been Renault-powered. It has been that way since 1995 so you get used to working with one supplier. There are obviously differences in how a new supplier works and it’s good for us to be challenged in this way. In terms of the car, the regulations changes for 2014 were absolutely enormous, going from a V8 to a V6 turbo. It’s actually now easier for us to change power unit suppliers to Mercedes than it was going from V8 to V6 turbo which was a much more difficult transition. Mercedes have been really professional and our working relationship so far has been very constructive.

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