The Lotus 94T 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 used 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 second part of the 1983 Formula One season. 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 ...

''EF1'' 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

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 ...

tyres. The car was designed and built in only five weeks by the incumbent designer

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 ...

, who was brought into the team by 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 ...

in an attempt to stave off the uncompetitiveness of the previous Lotus cars. The car featured a lower, slimmer monocoque with improved weight distribution over its predecessor. The 94T made its debut at the

1983 British Grand Prix The 1983 British Grand Prix (formally the XXXVI Marlboro British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 16 July 1983. It was the ninth race of the 1983 Formula One World Championship. The 67-lap race was won by Alain ...

and proved to be competitive in the hands of

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 ...

, who came home fourth in the race, and

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 provided an upswing in form for the Lotus team which would carry them into the 1984 season with a developed version of the car. Its best result was a third-place at the

1983 European Grand Prix The 1983 European Grand Prix (formally the John Player Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on 25 September 1983. It was the fourteenth race of the 1983 Formula One World Championship. The 76-lap race was won ...

with Mansell, who also claimed the fastest lap in the race, while de Angelis won the pole position. De Angelis scored two points with the car, but Mansell made it into the top six on several occasions, and finished the season with 12 points to his credit.

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; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) * Lotus also used the 92 and 93T models in but scored all points with the 94T; for the German Grand Prix Mansell used the 94T in practice but used the 93T in the race

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotus 94T 1983 Formula One season cars 94T