Lotus satisfied with its Coanda exhausts
Unlike the double DRS, which seems to pose some problems for Lotus, the new Coanda effect exhaust system satisfies the English team, which should keep it on Kimi Räikkönen's car for the rest of the weekend.
This Friday, Lotus used a new Coanda-effect exhaust system. As with the double DRS, tested earlier this season, it was Kimi Räikkönen who was tasked with the first run of this new part.
After the first two practice sessions of the weekend, the initial assessment is positive regarding this aerodynamic innovation, which should, therefore, remain on the Finnish driver’s car for qualifying and the race.
« I think, we have not decided yet but it seems that we will keep them. We are relatively satisfied with the way they are working. We are still at the beginning of a rather long road. It is not simple to make them work immediately but the numbers we have are good so we are quite happy. Now, we need to check if they do not have implications on reliability because the very hot gas flows through different areas than usual, » explains James Allison, technical director of the Lotus F1 Team.
The English team is the latest team to install this type of exhaust on its car, although their development has been underway since the beginning of the season. « We could have introduced them earlier, but things were going fairly well for us on the track. We had a relatively positive season and have been quite competitive this year, » adds Allison in the Yeongam paddock.
Now it remains to be seen if this will allow the E20 to return to the level of its competitors after a few more difficult Grand Prix for the Enstone team.
