The Lotus 95T was a
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racing car designed by
Gérard Ducarouge
Gérard Ducarouge (23 October 1941 – 19 February 2015) was a French Formula One car designer whose career in motorsport started in 1965 when he joined Equipe Matra Sports. His Matra MS80 car, entered by the privateer Matra International te ...
for use by
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More ...
in the
1984 Formula One World Championship
The 1984 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 38th season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Formula One motor racing. Drivers and teams competed in sixteen Grands Prix for the World Drivers' and World Constructors ...
. The car brought Lotus its best results for several seasons, frequently reaching the podium.
Design
The car was powered by the
Renault Gordini
The Renault Dauphine () is a rear-engined economy car manufactured by Renault in a single body style – a three-box, 4-door sedan – as the successor to the Renault 4CV; more than two million were manufactured during its 1956–1967 ...
EF4
V6 turbo
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
engine and ran on
Goodyear tyres, after Lotus had switched from
Pirelli
Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer and is focused on the consumer production of tyre ...
. It was a development of the
Lotus 94T
The Lotus 94T was a Formula One racing car used by Team Lotus in the second part of the 1983 Formula One season. The car was powered by the Renault Gordini ''EF1'' V6-turbo engine, and ran on Pirelli tyres. The car was designed and built in on ...
, which had proved competitive at the end of .
The chassis of the 95T was praised by the editor of the AUTOCOURSE annual in 1984 as the best handling of the season during the annual's team by team review. The technical review of the 95T was particularly positive of the Lotus mechanical grip in slow corners, mentioning that it was equal, if not slightly better than the McLaren MP4/2. The AUTOCOURSE editor reported that the McLaren was more aerodynamically efficient and was better in fast corners, but netherless praised the leadership of Gerard Ducarogue's technical directorship in reiving Lotus in 1984 after a dismal (in terms of results) 1983 season.
Season summary
![Renault F1 turbo engine in a Lotus 95T John Player Special](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Renault_F1_turbo_engine_in_a_Lotus_95T_John_Player_Special.jpg)
The car was driven by
Elio de Angelis
Elio de Angelis (26 March 1958 – 15 May 1986) was an Italian racing driver who participated in Formula One between and , racing for the Shadow, Lotus and Brabham teams. He was killed in an accident while testing the Brabham BT55 at the Paul ...
and
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series ( 1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over ...
, both of whom were consistently competitive in a season otherwise dominated by
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
. De Angelis finished in the top five on eleven occasions, including four podium finishes; he also took pole position at the opening race in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. With 34 points, he was third in the Drivers' Championship.
Mansell, meanwhile, finished third in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
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, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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, and was running second in the final race in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
when his brakes failed (which handed
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
the Drivers' Championship by half a point from
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Mich ...
). However, he also crashed out of the lead at a rain-hit
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
(which prompted team boss
Peter Warr
Peter Eric Warr (18 June 1938, Kermanshah, Iran – 4 October 2010, Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, France) was a British businessman, racing driver and a manager for several Formula One teams, including Walter Wolf Racing, Fittipaldi Automotive, and Team ...
, with whom he had a difficult relationship, to famously declare, "He'll never win a Grand Prix as long as I have a hole in my arse"), and in oppressive heat at
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
he took pole position and led the first half of the race, before his gearbox failed on the final lap and he collapsed from exhaustion trying to push the car to the finish line. He ultimately finished equal ninth in the Drivers' Championship with 13 points, the same tally as
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...
, who would replace him for .
With a total of 47 points, Lotus placed third in the Constructors' Championship, its best placing since . The 95T was seen by many in Formula One as being as good as the dominant
McLaren MP4/2
The McLaren MP4/2 was a Formula One car produced by McLaren for the 1984 season. An iteration of it, the MP4/2B, was used in the 1985 season, and a slightly updated version, the MP4/2C, raced in the 1986 season for McLaren. It was closely base ...
, its biggest problems being the tyres, the gearbox and the Renault engine, which despite being powerful and reliable was not as fuel-efficient as the
TAG-
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
engine in the McLaren. Nonetheless, the car had helped to re-establish Lotus as consistent front-runners, and would be succeeded for 1985 by a further development, the
Lotus 97T
The Lotus 97T was a Formula One racing car designed by Gérard Ducarouge and built by Team Lotus for use in the 1985 Formula One World Championship. A development of the previous year's 95T, the car was powered by the turbocharged 1.5-litre Ren ...
.
After Formula One
Mansell's 95T was auctioned by Mecum Auctions in
Monterey, California
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...
in August 2013, with a pre-sale estimate of between
$500,000 and $600,000. However, it failed to sell.
Complete Formula One results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (results in bold indicate pole position)
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotus 95t
1984 Formula One season cars
95T