The Fall Of Lotus F1 Team

Lotus F1 Team have a history with Formula One. In 2011 they became a title sponsor for Renault and began their journey once again in this prestigious sport. They had some great results and a couple of decent years, but it wasn't long before it all came down and soon, Lotus sold the team back to Renault. Join me as we look at Lotus, The Fall Of An F1 Team.
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[@Winchy]

I loved that livery so much, and their car was pretty fast as well for 2 seasons

[@MadeByPerspective]

100% man livery was on point

[@nadiainterF9]

The livery was beautiful!!!

[@user-mb6rf8lu2f]

Yea but in 2015 was pretty quick too but driver errors cost them

[@klutzyblubber9877]

Me too! Looked so proffessional even when they just revived their JPS livery!

[@BoxBoxNow]

​@@nadiainterF9 you can watch the entire Lotus liveries evolution on my channel as well

[@Naman.Khivsara]

Well I think it was kinda fault of kimis contract, it was stated that for every point scored he would he get €50,000 but then too be scored a lot. So it was a bad negotiation by lotus which led them to near close on bankruptcy. This isn't made up but was acknowledged by then team principal

[@MadeByPerspective]

Really good point there too!

[@vitsquid6511]

This is a really good point

[@muhammadfarhan581]

@@MadeByPerspective that story remind me of a popular talltale in my country about a parents who promised their son a big amount of money for every A he got in exam thinking "our dumb son wont achieve it lol" then plot twist, he score straight As and the parents went broke paying him

[@Jonsson95]

well Lotus still owes Kimi more than 6m€ so I don't think that contract led them near to bankruptcy since they didn't really pay him.

[@Naman.Khivsara]

@@Jonsson95 but then too how much they would have paid him to go 6mill in red to a single person

[@tamajayavariasi789]

Lotus Fall because Kimi Leaving the team Why Kimi's leave the team? Because he wanted to be left alone, He's know what he's doing

[@andrewchao9164]

@@WinTech4074 woooosh

[@firstlastname4672]

@@andrewchao9164 that's not how r/woosh use. So R/woosh for ya.

[@andrewchao9164]

First Last Name bro u good? the op posted a joke and the guy i replied to took it all serious... that’s literally the exact way you use wooosh bud. plus almost had a stroke reading the first half of your comment

[@forr0_]

@@andrewchao9164 r/woosh for u

[@SeshvirSeodutt]

@@firstlastname4672 only,old f1 fans get that joke hint it’s from 2012 Abu Dhabi gp

[@Ikcatcher]

Lotus wasn’t even that bad of a team, which makes them leaving hurt even more

[@BoxBoxNow]

that's true, really unfortunate to not seeing them no more

[@gringostarr69]

@GT012345tube They couldn't pay Kimi the bonuses he was promised. 50k€/point. Kimi did so much better than expected when 2013 he didn't start to get salary, he brought it out loud. In his last race for team he intentionally crashed his car to caterham and stayed out the last races. Team owners haven't payed some 5 million till today that they owe him.

[@jettlucashayes8508]

@@BoxBoxNow they will be back soon since money is no longer a problem

[@Lamilton82828]

@@jettlucashayes8508 I always liked them black livery was sick

[@verververververver]

For me, it has to be 2012 Canada. Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel were all fighting at the front and Vettel and Alonso went one stop whilst Hamilton went two. Toward the end of the race, Hamilton stormed past them and left Vettel and Alonso exposed to Grosjean in 4th. After getting passed Vettel dipped into the pits for the last five laps to get new rubber because he saw he was getting caught but Ferrari kept Alonso out. Grosjean was on a one stop as well but his tires were only two laps newer than Nando's and caught him with ease. It was one of those superb technical drives where Grosjean did a fantastic job managing his tires and brought it home P2 in a race where Kimi struggled.

[@MadeByPerspective]

Yep 2012 Canada was brilliant!

[@ciaronsmith4995]

Kimi destroyed Grosjean.

[@verververververver]

@@ciaronsmith4995 You're out of your mind lol. In 2013 they were more than comparable to each other.

[@verververververver]

@@ciaronsmith4995 Also, in the race specifically mentioned, he did finish 2nd, whilst Kimi had a particularly rough day.

[@ciaronsmith4995]

@@verververververver Over 50 points difference despite Kimi missing 2 races to back surgery is comparable? Kimi outqualifying him 11-6 is comparable? What planet do you live on? Earth?

[@marko.9065]

when prople think about lotus they only think about 2012 and 2013 and usually forget about that incredible grosjean podium in 2015, and that's definitely my favorite memory of lotus.

[@MadeByPerspective]

Yeah man that podium was quite special!

[@AlexTalksRacing]

That Lotus team was full of talent at times like Kimi, Grosjean (if you ignore his 2012 mistakes) Eric Boullier and James Allison. I think their time in F1 is underrated.

[@stake-harley]

But we just had to throw in Pastor Maldonado, the legend himself.

[@NazriB]

Lies again? FAS FUS

[@_Ben4810]

Eric Boullier wasn't really F1 material...His total mismanagement of the McLaren & Honda partnership (& where Honda are now...) is forever his epitaph....

[@Apos19]

Me finding out the news about Kimi scoring too much points causing them to almost gone bankrupt is what gets me into F1. :D

[@Denes2005]

4:48 the Mad Max livery perfectly suits grosjean and maldonado behind the wheel

[@user-ns7tv2li1u]

Respect our Pastor of our heart....and Romain was trying hard...dont minorize him

[@josephnus]

Where's the story about what makes Lotus almost went broke at the end of 2013? That Kimi €50k / points scored bonus clause in his contract and Lotus ended up have to pay Kimi €19,5M. that's just hilarious 😂

[@muhammadfarhan581]

Wkwkwk. They underestimate their own car, or maybe kimi outperformed the car

[@davidvasquez08]

Ozamataz Buckshank maybe both?

[@franciscotavares4142]

Having Maldonado and Grosjean in the team also doesn't help that much

[@BOABModels]

Ooh! A premiere! A friend of mine used to work for Lotus Renault. He also worked for Mercedes for a bit - he's an engineer. I should find out where he is these days.

[@MadeByPerspective]

That’s awesome!!

[@BOABModels]

@@MadeByPerspective your video was awesome again too! 👍

[@AbdhullahKadar]

Lotus was alright, but nothing compared to the power house they were before

[@MadeByPerspective]

Yep! They were a massive force back in the day!

[@mp4986]

@@MadeByPerspective True but the Lotus of 2011-15 had nothing to do with Team Lotus, which was the racing team from the 50s to 1994. The only common factor is the name. In fact, Tony Fernandes' Lotus Racing is perhaps more closely linked as he actually aquired the rights to use the name from David Hunt, who had purchased the Team Lotus name back in the late 2000s. Seriously, there's a whole video about this saga.

[@TheHesK9]

@Bilal Khalid we will. I'm almost 100% sure of it. They have a lot of money now

[@user-ns7tv2li1u]

Lotus was a factor until Nelson Piquet gone to Bennetton...

[@rebeccagreenwood3302]

Funnily enough, you can use this same comment to describe Kimi 😅😅

[@jusra2528]

The Kimi-Grosjean Duo had an astonishing performance. I wish they could race race as team-mates again.

[@chanchaniceman]

If anything grosjean learned a lot having a much experienced teammate

[@davidvasquez08]

Chan Chan most of that came undone by our Lord Maldonado

[@stevencoates8797]

They were the best due

[@stevencoates8797]

Duo*

[@ciaronsmith4995]

Kimi outperformed his cars in 2012-2013. He was so consistent, to a point Lotus couldn't even pay him. Unbelievable. It's annoying Kimi switched to a new team in 2014, in the first year of the hybrid cars, to drive a car that was UNDRIVEABLE for his driving style. This gave people a distorted image of just how awesome he was in 2012/2013.

[@StraightOuttaPaddock]

sadly we didnt see Kubica driving that car

[@MadeByPerspective]

A big shame ☹️

[@gigadonis8684]

He wouldn't have driven it anyway... He had a contract for Ferrari for '12 Just imagine "S🅱INARRE GIGA KUBICA!!!" Shame tho. As a Ferrari fan, he would be a great asset to the team, especially now

[@apaansih2863]

@@gigadonis8684 S🅱igakubica

[@piizog]

Kimi's record breaking run at points was thr thing that got me back to watching F1. Maldonado being signed on made me think they'd never perform again. How right I was, is sad.

[@Luke22SV]

Getting rid of Heidfeld for Senna was a mistake there 2014 car was a complete joke

[@MadeByPerspective]

Yep their 2014 challenger was awful

[@WillyWarby]

@@MadeByPerspective Unique on the other hand though with those tusks on the front wing , literally was just two erections

[@KeiraMegan]

Thanks for this video!! This was before my time watching F1 so was really interested in knowing before about the teams that have passed, especially lotus! Also thanks for the FSeries shoutout, we love uuuu!

[@omaralhashmi3905]

Nahh it’s kimi who put theme in p4 He just built different😤

[@MadeByPerspective]

Hahaha the king!!

[@jacksalami9945]

Fantastic video PerspectiveF1, really impressed, exceptionally well researched & executed.

[@16Willmanutd]

I loved it when Lotus was in F1. Probably some of the best years in the sport was when they were racing. I actually got a chance to meet Gerard Lopez who owned the team at the time and i couldnt believe how nice the guy was. All in all Lotus was a great looking car and will be very missed.

[@Stephen05777]

Kimi win in Australia. I put a $20 multi bet on kimi to win and Jimmie Johnson to win the Daytona 500 two weeks earlier and it came in with kimi being an absolute outsider. Especially after he started 7th

[@olliep8117]

Yeh me too buddy, my first ever F1 bet was on Kimi win in Australia 2013, tenner each way, and it came in. That season in general was great for F1 betting, cos midfield teams like Lotus could still get podiums. Less so nowadays.

[@davidjamesnoble3170]

The livery was great but I'm old enough to remember the original JPH Lotus so...the nostalgia drive was strong with this one. Great video as always 👍

[@UncleBenda]

Great video mate, really loving the channel

[@LegoGrandPrix13]

Nice video. I still have the Lotus Shirt. My fav moment: Kimi's win in Australia 2013 by stopping 1 time less then the rest.

[@gedhoughton9523]

The livery, the low drag and the really low tyre degradation, that’s why I loved the team! Plus Kimi brought personality to the team, after Eric and Kimi left, it just looked like a shell of what it was becoming

[@F1Dornie]

THANK YOU!!!! Great video :)

[@ryuzaki7.62]

My favorite memory of the team was probably driving for them in the 2013 game, lol. Which is probably why I've grown to love the team even while it had it's ups and downs

[@apaansih2863]

Yeah i drove that team and score 11 win and 2 titles and 2 construction

[@SeshvirSeodutt]

2013 game is a arcade game nothing compared to real life

[@ryuzaki7.62]

@@SeshvirSeodutt It's what introduced me to the team, though. I can't ever forget it

[@shaggyrogers5419]

nice videos buddy keep up the good work

[@MadeByPerspective]

Thanks so much 😊

[@motorsportfanboy7769]

2:27 whoops uhh wrong season buddy 😅. But other than that, great video. My favourite memory of Lotus is just how good they are in 2012 & 2013. Like you can make a case they have the best car on the grid in most of the first half of 2013 (well until the tyre rule change in Nurburgring but even with that they are able to adapt and is still very fast)

[@nadiainterF9]

Good to see how Grosjean has always remained constant... ...always hitting on his teammates

[@catz8449]

My favorite Lotus memory is probably Grosjean's podium in 2015, as it was so different from the rest of their season and it showed that Grosjean is actually a good driver. (Also kind of redemption for Romain in terms of his Spa memories)

[@mike04574]

Grosjean was good before that

[@3DWorldMan]

the podium in 2015 was an amazing show of what grosjean can do

[@jonbell6355]

I remember the last years of the V8s the lotus had one of the best cracking exhaust notes on the overrun. I bet that sounded even better if you were a marshal standing on a corner. Thats my memory of them. Oh and when kimmi's tyres went off the cliff when he was in a high position for points. the car looked like it was on ice.

[@markgriffiths9377]

My favourite Lotus memories are of the mid 80s when Senna drove for them, like winning Portugal in the rain. The 2012-13 incarnation was also good though. I dunno why they struggled so much with the 2014 regs as they were to do with the engine, no? But they designed a really poor chassis for that season.

[@TheLeewi98]

I think the problems started way before the 2014 season. Already in the middle of the 2012 season there were rumours that Lotus would not be able to pay all of Kimis wages because of the performance bonuses in his contract. Back then it seemed ridiculous that a driver having good results could have negative impact on the whole team. But that became reality after the Abu Dhabi gp in 2013 when Kimi decided that he didn’t want to drive for them because they didn’t pay his wages. That team produced some very good cars with th E20 and the E21. But the E22 was a very bad car and the Renault engine didnt help it at all. Lotus was a nice and fun team specially with Kimi, shame that F1 became too expensive for them.

[@harveyknguyen]

to be fair though they couldn't pay really anyone's wages

[@TheLeewi98]

@@harveyknguyen thats true. Sad case.

[@harveyknguyen]

@@TheLeewi98 yeah if i remember in the 2015 season the rest of the paddock ended up feeding the Lotus crew since the team didn't have the money to afford catering (plus the food bills from the years before were unpaid)

[@DavidGarcia-oi5nt]

Missed apex podcast has the team principal/CEO from lotus F1 on it regularly and he drops lots of knowledge on how it was during its last days

[@p4m209]

Would love to see the lotus team back They have a lot of history in the sport and having them back would be awesome

[@MadeByPerspective]

Me too! I really liked the team 👏🏽

[@GADMonty]

Kimi both saved and ruined the team at the same time, he pulled off some fantastic performances but he contract with Lotus is really what bled the team of money it could ill afford to lose.

[@Strome88]

These tier 2 F1 teams come and go and back again. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see another incarnation of a Lotus team in the mid to far future in F1.

[@dominik361]

I loved the Livery of Lotus. The Black and the yellow and the Red. I loved the Red in the Livery

[@MadeByPerspective]

The little hint of red was 👌🏽

[@dominik361]

Delicious. Aaand i meant Gold not yellow

Our video titles are almost same man 😂😂😂 Yours: The Fall Of Lotus F1 Team (2020) Mine: Fall of Lotus: A Star Wars Story (2018)

[@AbdhullahKadar]

ohmygod i missed the premiere :(( i slept too much aaaaaaaa. maybe next time.

[@grabsmicug7622]

I love lotus because it's the only f1 team who went to my country and showcased their team

[@PetoriaZero]

Everything. Pace (initially), the drivers (after 2011), the livery, and the fact that there were two unaware drivers on the same team.

[@dudeman9479]

My favorite lotus moment is how Kimi almost bankrupted the team

[@sriharidesai7606]

I think Lotus signed the worst contract possible in F1 with Kimi (bonus for each point). I really love them as a manufacturer Their road cars are insane(Evora,Elise,Exige and don't forget the Evija) Heck,Lotus is one of my most favourite brands :(

[@user-bt3bu6qn5u]

Just to much change at once in the hybrid era and quite a bad line up... A shame that lotus isn't competing in f1 anymore. Great video again, rly enjoyed watching 👍

[@verververververver]

The hybrid era has not been very good to use fans really, outside of some fantastic new drivers

[@MadeByPerspective]

Thanks for the support 😊

[@nicholasjohnson6724]

My favourite Lotus years was Elio de Angelis in the JPS turbo era ♥️

[@rhodrage]

I know the stepped noses get a bit of flack. But the E20 and E21 did it quite elegantly.

[@MrJr1976]

I never saw Caterham as "Lotus". I always saw the color scheme and knew it was "Caterham"

[@nedzo1940]

2:27 this displays the 2013 season, it has kovalainen, no d’ambrosio and kimi won in australia

[@phil6844]

Good video mate but the low energy makes it a bit tough to stay engaged

[@selder_7]

Teams can fall so far so fast it’s scary for the sport

[@MorbiusTheTruth]

It's a shame we don't see such a legendary liveries anymore

[@nealvandenberg6946]

I want that car so bad in F1 2020 classics

[@niclin22]

Used to be my favourite f1 team when they existed

[@midgeta6864]

JPS livery was ICONIC!!!

[@eddieredmann3]

Sounds like a certain American F1 team that also used a black and gold livery at one point before sponsorship became a huge issue.

[@hablom1977]

I remember I was so disappointed when Kimi went back to Ferrari after how they treated him, but I guess he liked driving for them..

[@CCF1channel]

This feels like it happened SO long ago, and yet it really wasn't

[@haykalhanif7653]

Any chance the lotus name would come back to F1 2022? I was thinking maybe someday Geely wanted to taste F1 using the Lotus brand again by buying out Haas

[@benasquith26]

What’s the difference between the two lotus teams, which one is the car company that makes the lotus Elise

[@harveyknguyen]

the difference between the Lotus F1 team and the car company Lotus is that the company produces cars on a much larger scale and makes much more money than the F1 team Lotus

[@aidenburgess217]

I wish I was alive for the original lotus team. that woulda been so hype to watch. imagine going to watch a race and one day this bloke comes out with this big fk off wing on the back of his car, and then, later in the season, get this, he puts one on the front too!

[@_Ben4810]

It was very exciting times...Colin Chapman was a dynamic, gifted engineer but also a chancer, a ruthless businessman & his single-mindedness would lead to his downfall...

[@sophiajones9616]

Kimi proving he knows what he is doing in Abu dabhi

[@vaioskaliakoudas6388]

How in the chaos possible is both Renault with Lotus in 2016 and Honda with later on BrawnGP in 2009 to make a deal with their entire predecessor teams for just 1 British pound??? #mindblowing 🤯🤯🤯🤯

[@montana9964]

I use this livery on my Fixie Bike

[@vfpowell4358]

I'd argue it started to go wrong in the back end of 2013

[@rossrreyes]

Nice hat

[@KevinAbillGaming]

Don't worry, this team will be remembered for one thing. "Kimi, get out of the f***ing way!"

[@lachiesutherland2971]

2:30 That's the 2013 season not 2012

[@TheHesK9]

There needs to be a proper Lotus team back. They could probably afford it now with the new owners

[@louielouie95]

Can You Do The Fall Of The Hispania F1 Team?

[@Re_Mecs]

Lotus F1 were actually on a bailiffs program on UK TV for un paid bills

[@finegentlemanincrocs]

Nice hat.

[@isaacrodriguez6154]

That beanie tho

[@priyankchaudhary9062]

Do a video on FORCE INDIA??

[@AriTHFeeder]

Should added the year so not to confuse to some

[@acescok]

“Just leave me alone. I know what I’m doing”

[@SanjeevKumar-xp1ce]

Audio could be louder

[@mysticzz6685]

Their livery is so dope too lmao

[@kristapsrozkalns6635]

Please come back

[@abyss18]

They went bankrupt because of a clause with Kimi’s contract where 1 point = $50,000

[@DejoR79]

sure, like more points dont means more money for them... must be more there

[@harveyknguyen]

which they never ended up having to pay Kimi for anyway

[@abyss18]

@@harveyknguyen yeah that’s the funny part 😂

[@abyss18]

@@DejoR79 no, not necessarily

[@User-dd2xv]

Kimi wins and podiums actually created a lot of that debt his win bonus was huge because Lotus never thought they could build a title winning car. When Kimi went Sauber Lotus/ Renault still owed Kimi money

[@Ole_CornPop]

Lotus is the greatest racing type car company in all of history.

[@scontrastex2448]

My fav louts meroerir was leave me alone I know what to do

[@MadeByPerspective]

Good times 🙏🏽

[@AmanAli-dc1sy]

The Lotus E20 and E21 deserved more than one win they got each think people forget how good those cars were. However as mentioned Kimi's points bonus almost bankrupted them, they clearly underestimated how good thier car would be and then they lost James Allison in 2013 as well and of course the E22 was just awful in everyway.

[@paddyneill1964]

Bravo Zulu sir. I like the videos on the history of the sport, past teams/drivers/circuits. I watch the girls already 😎. Beautiful women talking F1....what’s not to like ? 😜🤪🧐😎

[@paavopalantera9583]

As a Finn, the Kimi's Win in Bahrain will forever be in my memories.

[@kinafermusic2456]

when did he win in Bahrain?

[@paavopalantera9583]

@@kinafermusic2456 Hahah oh my! Well spotted. I was meaning to say Abu Dhabi. Must have not been to focused while writing.

[@DejoR79]

@@kinafermusic2456 Without vettel dirty move he will, but ok its not end of world

[@EmilForsberg_GRYBO]

It's so sad Kubica didn't get to use that 2011 lotus car... To put some perspective into it, in 2010 Kubica outscored Vitaly Petrov by 100 points, and in 2011 even Petrov managed to get a podium and more points than in 2010. Just think about what Robert could have done in that car...

[@ciaronsmith4995]

Nothing. Kimi is much better than Robert ever was, and Kubica lost to Heidfeld in 2006, 2007 and 2009.....

[@EmilForsberg_GRYBO]

@@ciaronsmith4995 ok, i wasn't comparing Kimi to Robert first of all. Kimi didn't join Lotus until 2012 by that point Kubica would be in the ferrari had he not gotten injured. And Heidfeld is an underrated driver, when Kubica lost to him it wasn't by much usually. Also Robert was the only one to take advantage of a car that if Sauber didn't give up on could have challenged for the championship. Plus Robert was on another level in 2010 compated to earlier, yes much better than even his 2008 season in terms of driving preformence. And beeing used to a simillar car would definitelly help him in the 2011 car, sure Heidfeld drove it and was decent but nothing too special. I'm willing to bet however that Robert, knowing the machenary, would have preformed much better.

[@noahflavell1325]

When just one driver can just bankrupt a team

[@carlostecnologia8440]

That is not how to say PDVSA, is not P-D-V-S-A, it's something like "Pedevesa" or something like that

[@honda9006]

Grosjean and Maldonado... Dream team

[@kingfrancis6953]

Team wrecking machines😂🤣

[@anthonyeverett1391]

I think when lotus had the Lamborghini engine where great times , shame it ended.

[@4Leka]

Lotus showed that drivers really matter. Without Kimi they would have never been a winning team, much less 4th in the championship. Without Kimi they would have always been at the level they were at in 2014-2015.

[@truedarklander]

Where's Maldonado's P1 thoo

[@benn8793]

In my opinion, the Lotus from 2011 to 2015 was not really Lotus. The legendary Lotus team founded by Colin Chapman disappeared at the end of 1994. Everything that came after that in F1 was just a licence of the naming rights. The infamous black and gold livery didn't really work for me personally either without the appropriate sponsors. IT WAS ONLY THE NAME...

[@MrMondeller]

John Player Special..

[@musicality2654]

I miss Lotus F1

[@TeaVR]

There's little point in calling the team Lotus. The team was (and still is) 'Team Enstone'. Lotus from Norfolk had nothing to do with the team.