Lotus vs. Virgin - A comparison by Sportsman and Flood1

 
 

There are new teams on the grid this year for the first time in quite a while as the result of a concerted effort on the part of the FIA, and to some extent, the FOM. One could argue about the need for that effort, and Ferrari has done so in a surprising rant on their official website.

 

The facts are that two of the four new teams, Lotus F1 and Virgin Racing, will be on the grid for the first 2010 race at the Sakhir Circuit at Bahrain. As for the other two new teams, USF1 and Campos, there is serious doubt as to whether either of them will make it to the grid in Bahrain, or any other 2010 event.

 

Virgin Racing and Lotus F1 have both completed all mandated FIA tests and have both put their cars on track for official testing. The two teams have a lot in common, but they also have many differences.

 

Let’s have a look at the major players in both teams. Lotus is lead by Mike Gascoyne. Here is his CV: Force India, Jordan, Lotus, McLaren, Renault, Sauber, Spyker, Toyota, and Tyrrell. He worked for all these teams in one capacity or another. There are mixed opinions about his effectiveness, but the cars often proved themselves after he left the team. He is known as the “bulldog” because of his headstrong and uncompromising demeanor. Many think his reputation exceeds his accomplishments. He hopes to prove that criticism wrong with Lotus F1.

 

Gascoyne matriculated toward a Computational Fluid Dynamics Doctorate at Cambridge but failed to finish his thesis and instead went to work at Tyrrell. In terms of his design philosophy, he is generally conservative. And in spite of his training in CFD, he is of the “old school” of design: he believes in the “design, fabricate, and testing via the wind tunnel” path. He has expressed his disbelief in the “CFD only design” as enunciated by his comments vis a vis the Virgin Racing team and their CFD only effort.

 

The Lotus T 127 (the continuation of the Lotus numbering scheme) does look a little “old fashioned.” It doesn’t have any sexy curves, has a high but unrefined nose, has rather large side pods with much less undercut that the other cars and looks a lot like last year’s Force India. I won’t go into the rumors that he is in possession of the 2009 FI wind tunnel model via his association with Aerolab. But, the car does look like a cross between the 2009 FI and the 2008 Toyota.

 

Virgin Racing, by contrast, has very little recent F1 experience in their resume’. The effort began with veteran John Booth, a single seater champion himself in Formula Ford. The team had success in Formula 3 as well as Formula Renault as Manor Motorsports. Their past drivers include Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.

 

Manor earned an entry into F1 as Manor F1. The team evolved from that point and made a significant move forward when they partnered with Wirth Research and Richard Branson to form Virgin Racing.

 

Nick Wirth has previous experience in F1. He worked for March and Leyton House. He also was the owner of the Simtek Formula 1 Team, a partnership started between Wirth and Max Mosely. The team had little success and suffered financial problems. They lasted only 2 seasons in F1. After that, he worked for Benneton for 3 or so years.

 

The Simtek team’s low point was the death of Roland Ratzenburger at San Marino in 1994. Ratzenburger had an off during qualifying and damaged his front wing. He continued thinking that the wing was ok. Approaching the Villenueve Curva at high speed, his front wing failed, he hit the wall and lost his life. This was the beginning of the worst weekend in modern F1 history.

 

I must admit that the Ratzenburger tragedy came to mind when the Virgin Racing VR-01 lost the front wing at their first test. Unfair? Certainly, but I have a long memory.

 

Wirth has been running Wirth Research for many years. It is a very interesting company that is very forward looking regarding design technologies and cost efficient design. They have worked as technical consultants with a number of clients including Honda Indy Car and, in their latest efforts, have been instrumental in the development of the Acura LMP car. The car was designed and built by Wirth Research and was a winner right out of the box. Using only CFD techniques, Wirth designed an ALMS LMP winning entry for 2009. Very impressive!

 

The Virgin Racing VR-01 is much more modern looking than the Lotus. The nose looks very “Newey” like, and the car seems to be less conservative than the Lotus. The sidepods and rear are relatively conservative, but the entire package is modern and contemporary.

 

As mentioned before, unlike the Lotus, the VR-01 has never seen the inside of a wind tunnel. Wirth thinks CFD is all that is needed for design, with all other info gathered on-track. One factor that promotes his point of view is costs. He believes that wind tunnels are not cost effective.  They may be the ultimate testing medium, but he thinks the benefits are grossly overpriced and ultimately unnecessary.

 

 

In testing, both teams have had problems. Virgin had the wing failure that cost them track time. Virgin also had hydraulics problem, as did Lotus. The test times for Virgin have been about 3 seconds behind the fastest times posted, and Lotus has been another second behind.

 

But, both teams will race this year and both have approached the series with serious intent. They have evident differences in design philosophies, and I find that very compelling.

 

I wish them both luck, but I have an affinity toward Virgins, HaHa!