F1 : Lotus reveal the E23 hybrid

Lotus have provided a first glimpse of their 2015 challenger, the E23 Hybrid, and predicted it will trigger a vast improvement in their on-track fortunes this year.

The car is the first the team have produced since switching to Mercedes power after scoring just 10 points during the 2014 season when their engines were supplied by Renault.

In its most notable design feature, the E23 has been presented with a conventional nose - a clear departure from the split 'twin tusk' nose of its predecessor.

According to technical chief Nick Chester, the new car “represents a massive step forward for us. It’s no secret that we struggled with last year’s car so we’ve targeted every area that caused us an issue. We’ve made strong progress in the wind tunnel as well as in areas such as packaging and cooling. We expect the E23 to perform far, far better than its predecessor.”

Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado will continue to drive for the team in 2015, with Jolyon Palmer appointed the team's third driver following his GP2 championship win last year.

The Enstone-based team, which has been dogged by financial strife in recent years, are yet to confirm whether they will participate in the upcoming Jerez test, the first of three pre-season meetings this winter. They are, however, confident that they have fixed many of the flaws that bedevilled its predecessor, the under-performing E22.

“In terms of what’s new, obviously a massive change for us is a new Power Unit supplier," said Chester. "We made this change as it looked and looks to be the one area of the car which could bring us the greatest performance gain. It’s not just performance, but reliability and driveability as well as packaging and cooling too.

"We learnt a lot in many areas of the car over the course of 2014 so there are many lessons which have been applied. We know we’ve made a big step. We won’t know how our car will fare in relative terms until we’re out in action at a Grand Prix, but we certainly expect to be much more competitive than last year.”

Source: Sky Sports F1

Lotus could change team name for 2015

Lotus may be in no danger of dropping out of formula one

On an updated official entry list for the 2015 season, the Enstone team was listed recently with a "subject to confirmation" asterisk alongside its name.

It sparked fears Lotus, whose Gerard Lopez led the angry complaints of midfield teams including Force India and Sauber late last season, could be the next to join Marussia and Caterham in serious difficulty.

But Italy's Omnicorse reports that those fears appear misguided, as the British-based team is busily "completing the construction of the first E23 chassis for next year".

"So what does the FIA's asterisk refer to?" the report said. "The answer is quite simple. Lotus has made a request to be able to make a change to its name."

Omnicorse referred to rumours that Lopez might be looking to exit F1 in the event he can recoup the investment of his company Genii Capital.

The report added: "But what is more likely is that the name change would only be the adding of a sponsor like PDVSA or Total, who are the main financiers of the two drivers Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean (respectively)."

F1 : The Driver's Numbers for 2015

The 18 drivers who will be racing with when the 2015 F1 season gets underway in Australia have confirmed their car numbers. The reigning world champion has the option of adopting the number one or continuing to use his career number. But Hamilton has opted to continue with his number 44.

Mercedes 

Lewis Hamilton - 44

Nico Rosberg - 6

 Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo - 3

Daniil Kvyat - 26

Williams

Valteri Bottas - 77

Felipe Massa - 19

Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel - 5 

Kimi Raikkonen - 7

McLaren

Fernando Alonso - 14

Jenson Button - 22

Force India

Nico Hulkenberg - 27

Sergio Perez - 11

Toro Rosso

Max Verstappen  - 33

Carlos Sainz Jr. - 55

Lotus

Romain Grosjean - 8

Pastor Maldonado - 13

Sauber

Marcus Ericsson - 9

Felipe Nasr - 12

This is how the 2015 F1 Grid will look like...

Toro Rosso have confirmed on Thursday that Carlos Sainz Jr. will partner Max Verstappen in 2015 season. The decision came after Jean Eric Vergne announced that he would be leaving the team.

It means that Toro Rosso, who finished 7th in the constructors championship in 2014 with 30 points will field two debutants in 2015. Carlos Sainz Jr won this year's Formula Renault 3.5 Championship and drove a Red Bull at this week's Abu Dhabi test.

The future of Caterham and Marussia still looks uncertain, while McLaren are yet to confirm their line-up.

MERCEDES
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg

RED BULL
Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat

WILLIAMS
Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa

FERRARI
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen

FORCE INDIA
Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez

TORO ROSSO
Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz

LOTUS
Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado

SAUBER
Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr

McLAREN
Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso

MANOR (MARUSSIA)
TBC

CATERHAM
TBC

Day 2 of the Abu Dhabi F1 Testing - Updated timings

The latest times from the final day of testing at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi at the end of the 2014 F1 season.

Ferrari Academy protege Raffaele Marciello made his F1 testing debut for the team on Day 2 of the final testing of 2014.

McLaren’s problematic start to their new Honda era continued on the second and final day of the Abu Dhabi test as their interim car completed just two laps.


1. Pascal Wehrlein Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 42 laps 1:44.557 

2. Max Verstappen Netherlands Toro Rosso-Renault 63 laps 1:45.222 

3. Raffaele Marciello Italy Ferrari-Ferrari 48 laps 1:45.376 

4. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Red Bull-Renault 59 laps 1:45.666 

5. Felipe Nasr Brazil Williams-Mercedes 21 lap 1:45.937 

6. Esteban Ocon France Lotus-Renault 34 laps 1:47.013 

7. Marcus Ericsson Sweden Sauber-Ferrari 61 laps 1:47.173 

8. Will Stevens Britain Caterham-Renault 43 laps 1:48.348 

9. Spike Goddard Australia Force India-Mercedes 33 laps 1:48.738

Rosberg takes pole at Abu Dhabi GP

It was a Mercedes top 4 in qualifying as Nico Rosberg took the pole in the season ender closely followed by his team mate Lewis Hamilton. 

The other two Mercedes powered Williams cars that of Valteri Bottas and Felipe Massa will occupy the second row of the grid in Abu Dhabi GP.

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastien Vettel who were P5 and P6 in qualifying were penalized for an illegal front wing on their car and will start from the back of the grid on Sunday.

Here are the full qualifying results:

1. Nico Rosberg  Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 40.480s 
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 40.866s 
3. Valtteri Bottas  Williams-Mercedes 1m 41.025s 
4. Felipe Massa  Williams-Mercedes 1m 41.119s 
5. Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull-Renault 1m 41.267s 
6. Sebastian Vettel  Red Bull-Renault 1m 41.893s 
7. Daniil Kvyat  Toro Rosso-Renault 1m 41.908s 
8. Jenson Button  McLaren-Mercedes 1m 41.964s 
9. Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 42.236s 
10. Fernando Alonso  Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 42.866s 

11. Kevin Magnussen  McLaren-Mercedes 1m 42.198s 
12. Jean-Eric Vergne  Toro Rosso-Renault 1m 42.207s 
13. Sergio Perez  Force India-Mercedes 1m 42.239s 
14. Nico Hulkenberg  Force India-Mercedes 1m 42.384s 
15. Adrian Sutil  Sauber-Ferrari 1m 43.074s 

16. Romain Grosjean  Lotus-Renault 1m 42.768s* 
17. Esteban Gutierrez  Sauber-Ferrari 1m 42.819s 
18. Pastor Maldonado  Lotus-Renault 1m 42.860s 
19. Kamui Kobayashi  Caterham-Renault 1m 44.540s 
20. Will Stevens Britain Caterham-Renault 1m 45.095s 

Important F1 car launch dates

With new cars, new engines, new driver line-ups and new partnerships up and down the grid, there's a lot to look out for as the 2014 pre-season starts to gather momentum.
As the first pre-season test at Jerez is just around the corner, here's a look at some important dates that we know, in regards to F1 in the coming days.

Important dates to remember for F1 fans in the coming 10 days:

24th January : McLaren Mercedes F1 MP4-29 car launch at Woking. (Online)

25th January : Scuderia Ferrari F1 car launch. (Online)

26th January : Sauber F1car launch.

27th January : Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 STR9 car launch at Jerez.

28th January : Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W05 car launch at Jerez.

28th January : Infiniti Red Bull F1 RB10 car launch at Jerez.

28th January : Caterham F1 C33 car launch at Jerez.

28th January :  First pre-season test at Jerez.
Lotus F1 team will not be participating in the Jerez  pre season test.

February : Lotus car launch pre-Bahrain test.