F1: Good news, and bad, at Lotus

The surprise announcement from Lotus was that it has signed a deal with Red Bull to take the hydraulics and drive train for 2011 and onwards.

The Red Bull cars had a very neatly packaged rear - until they had to mess with it to add double diffusers. That, says Mike Gascoyne, Lotus Racing Chief Technical Officer, is no longer the case: “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."

Gascoyne has just signed a new five-year deal with the team.

But, as Lotus headed for Japan, news broke of the death of one of the most important people in the history of team. Peter Warr was team manager for several of Lotus world championships and took over the team after Colin Chapman died. He was responsible for bringing Ayrton Senna to Lotus as well as other major drivers. Warr died on 5th October in France having suffered a heart attack but news reached the team only a few hours ago.

Famed for tussled hair and big-rimmed glasses, Warr made his last appearance at an F1 event in Bahrain in March this year. At the suggestion of Clive Chapman, Lotus Racing team principal Tony Fernades invited Warr for the weekend. Warr watched Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti drive JPS Lotus cars in which they had won World Championships - Fittipaldi under Warr's guidance.

And Warr was no armchair critic;: he won the 1963 Japanese Grand Prix - driving a Type 23 Lotus.