Via the team’s YouTube channel, Raikkonen and team mate Romain Grosjean
unveiled the E21 on the factory floor in Enstone after original plans to do
so in a marquee were thwarted by freak winds.
The car has retained a predominantly gold and black livery witnessed last
year, although with more flashes of red – notably on the engine air intake
and sidepods – than was the case in 2012.
It also sports, in white lettering, the hashtag ‘ImSexyAndIKnowIt’. Despite
the opportunity to mask the step in the car’s nose, deemed by many as ‘ugly’
when revealed by the majority of teams at the start of last season, Lotus
have opted to retain the design.
With few significant changes to the regulations for 2013, the key for Lotus
will be to build on an impressive campaign last year.
Raikkonen, in particular, scored the team’s first win since Fernando Alonso’s
victory in Japan in 2008 when they were known as Renault.
It was also the first for the name of Lotus – bearing in mind it has gone
through various guises – since the 1987 USA East Grand Prix in Detroit.
With Lotus a comfortable fourth in the constructors’ championship, and
Raikkonen third in the drivers’ standings, team principal Eric Boullier
concedes the team are pushing for more.
Asked if a top-three finish was on the cards, Boullier said: “We will
definitely try. Third place is definitely an achievement we would like to
have this year.
“We would like to build on the momentum from 2012. The people here are
keen to do better than 2012, and we will do everything to fight to be better
this year.”