Lotus Racing has announced that it has agreed a deal with Red Bull Technology for the supply of gearboxes and hydraulic systems from the 2011 season and beyond. The announcement marks the next critical building block in the process of stepping up the team’s challenge for honours in the FIA Formula One™ World Championship and is a major statement of intent about their future aspirations.
Earlier on in the week, Lotus announced that it has ended its relationship with Cosworth and is looking at Renault engines to power its cars next season.
Speaking about the new tie-up, Mike Gascoyne, Lotus Racing Chief Technical Officer said: “The announcement that we have reached a multi-year agreement with Red Bull Technology for the supply of our gearboxes and hydraulics from 2011 is obviously a massive step forward for us, both in engineering terms, and as an expression of our ambitions for next year and for future Championships. The gearbox / hydraulics package obviously plays a critical role in the performance of the car, not just on track but in design and packaging terms, and this deal gives our design and aero teams a very exciting platform to work with. The removal of the double diffusers in 2011 will allow the whole grid to tighten up the rear bodywork and mechanical structures around the gearbox, and this supply deal will allow us to capitalise on that with our 2011 car. Exciting times lie ahead!”
Lotus is also expected to make a further two announcements later on, and one of those is expected to be a confirmation of the use of Renault engines. Lotus had used Xtrac gearboxes and hydraulics during its debut season in 2010.
The move will also mean that Lotus will use the exact same engine/gearbox combination as Red Bull next season.
Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing Team Principal added his thoughts: “We are very pleased about Lotus Racing’s decision to use Red Bull Technology gearboxes and hydraulic systems from 2011. The fact that Red Bull Technology has been chosen to be a supplier to another team despite its short history demonstrates how much we have achieved since our first season. We very much look forward to working with Lotus Racing from 2011 onwards.”
Lotus Team Principal, Tony Fernandes, shares his thoughts on the strategic move by his team: “Din, Nasa, the whole team and I are absolutely delighted to be able to announce our gearbox and hydraulics partnership with Red Bull Technology. It is a real statement of our intention to challenge for Formula One™ honours as soon as we can that we have reached this agreement and we are very excited about integrating the package into our 2011 car. I think people in and out of the sport are going to be following our progress even more closely now we have taken this incredibly important and ambitious step, and it makes next year even more exciting. The Lotus Racing dream grows bigger every day!”
