Lotus has become the first Formula One team to reveal its new 2013 car.
The Lotus E21 was unveiled at the team's Oxfordshire base yesterday and Team Principal Eric Boullier claims that the new car will help the Enstone team achieve 'great things' in the 2013 season.
With very few major changes to the F1 regulations since the end of the last season, the E21 is strikingly similar to the E20 which competed last year.
"Depending on where you look, some parts of the new car are a ground-up redesign and in other areas we have further optimised the best bits of the design philosophy we've adopted for several seasons," said Lotus F1 Team Technical Director James Allison.
"The front and rear suspension layouts are substantially revised to try and give us better aerodynamic opportunities. The front wing is a continuation of the concepts we have worked on since the 2009 rules were published.
"For the rear wing system, we've continued to try to work on having a satisfactory level of rear downforce stability whilst having maximum DRS switching potential."
One rule changes which does come in this year is that teams are now allowed to fit a so-called 'vanity panel' to the front of their cars, to disguise the ugly 'duck-bill' style front ends which were introduced before the 2012 season.
However, Allison remains unsure whether such a device will be used: "The panel will add a few grammes of weight and so is only likely to run on the car if a team can find a performance benefit for doing so."
Lotus has big plans for the 2013 season, aiming to finish no lower than third in the Constructors' Championship.
"The leap we made from 2011 to 2012 showed what we are capable of," said Boullier.
"Add to this the continuity and potential of our driver line-up and we have a very powerful cocktail for the season ahead.
"Our ambitious plan to turn ourselves into one of the top teams in Formula 1 is coming to fruition and now we need to harness this with strong and regular podium results."
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