Lotus F1 Team Accused Of Copying By Force India

Our very own Lotus F1 Team could be in trouble before the F1 season even starts. Force India is said to be keeping a close eye on the development of the Lotus car, concerned that the Lotus could be too similar to their own car used in the season just past. Lotus released details and a photo of their wind tunnel model a couple of weeks before. And Force India is finding the front wing assembly design too familiar for comfort. They also claim that the wind-tunnel tyres were previously hand-written on by Force India staff.

The entire accusation is not helped by the fact that Mike Gascoyne—Force India's former Aerolab wind tunnel and technical chief—is currently heading the Lotus project. But Gascoyne is denying any foul play, saying the wind tunnel model received “generic bodywork”. Fondtech, the Italian design firm in charge of designing the wind tunnel model, should be answerable instead, not Lotus, Gascoyne says.

Force India has not filed a formal complaint. But that could all change when Lotus signs the Concorde Agreement, which includes a clause stating that no single part of the race car has been worked on or designed by anyone outside the team, ensuring that there is no element of copycat.

AboutSeow Yaohan

Seow Yao Han strives to bring you the latest and the most comprehensive information on cars available in Malaysia. But it's never easy for him to talk and write cars in this part of the world because what you lust after is often not what you drive home. When the euphoria of test-driving that branded, super-expensive sports car dies down, he just goes home in his less-than-glamorous ride.