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Lotus E21
	Kimi Räikkönen driving the E21 during the free practice session at the Malaysian Grand Prix
Category	Formula One
Constructor	Lotus
Designer(s)	James Allison (Technical Director); Nick Chester (Deputy Technical Director); Martin Tolliday (Chief Designer); Simon Virrill (Project Leader); Jarrod Murphy (Head of CFD); Dirk de Beer (Head of Aerodynamics); Dave Wheater (Chief Aerodynamicist)
Predecessor	Lotus E20
Successor	Lotus E22
Technical specifications
Chassis	Moulded carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb composite monocoque, manufactured by Lotus F1 Team and designed for maximum strength with minimum weight. Installing the engine as a fully stressed member.
Suspension (front)	Carbon fibre top and bottom wishbones operate an inboard rocker via a pushrod system. This is connected to a torsion bar and damper units which are mounted inside the front of the monocoque.
Suspension (rear)	Carbon fibre top and bottom wishbones with pull rod operated torsion springs and transverse-mounted damper units mounted in the top of the gearbox casing.
Engine	Renault RS27-2013 2.4 L (146 cu in) V8 (90°). Naturally aspirated, 18,000 RPM limited with KERS, mid-mounted.
Transmission	Lotus 7-speed semi-automatic sequential titanium gearbox + 1 reverse.
Power	750 hp (560 kW) @ 18,000 rpm
Weight	642 kg (1,415.4 lb), with driver, cameras and ballast
Fuel	Total; Kevlar-reinforced rubber fuel cell by ATL.
Tyres	Pirelli P Zero (dry), Cinturato (wet); OZ Wheels (front and rear): 13"
Competition history
Notable entrants	Lotus F1 Team
Notable drivers	7. Kimi Räikkönen; 7. Heikki Kovalainen; 8. Romain Grosjean
Debut	2013 Australian Grand Prix
First win	2013 Australian Grand Prix
Last win	2013 Australian Grand Prix
Last event	2013 Brazilian Grand Prix

The Lotus E21^[8] is a Formula One racing car designed and built by the Lotus F1 team for use in the 2013 championship.^[1] The chassis was designed by James Allison, Nick Chester, Martin Tolliday and Dirk de Beer with Renault supplying the team's engines. The car was driven by 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean,^[6]^[7] both of whom remained with the team after competing in 2012. The E21 was the first of the 2013 season cars to be launched.^[9]

Design

Despite the perpetual troubles the team experienced with the "passive Drag Reduction System" device on the E20 chassis, which spent most of the 2012 season in development without ever being raced,^[10]^[11]^[12] the E21 was launched with a passive DRS device of its own.^[13]

Following criticism of the cars raced in 2012 for being "ugly" because of a visible step in the design of the nose,^[14] the 2013 technical regulations allowed teams to use a "modesty panel", or a small piece of carbon fibre designed to cover the nose of the car for aesthetic purposes.^[15] However, the E21 was launched without a modesty panel, as the team felt that it offered no aerodynamic benefit, and that the aesthetic qualities it offered were not worth the added weight, however slight the weight gain might be.^[16]

Season summary

The E21 proved to be a competitive car across the 2013 season with one victory at the season opener at Australia, and the car would claim 14 podiums by the end of the season. Eventually, the team finished 4th in the Constructors' Championship with 315 points.

Livery

Lotus F1 went into the 2013 season with subtle livery changes. While the overall design was similar, the only difference was an additional red accents.

In Korea, the Renault logos were badged as Renault Samsung.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	Grands Prix																			Points	WCC
Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	AUS	MAL	CHN	BHR	ESP	MON	CAN	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	KOR	JPN	IND	ABU	USA	BRA	Points	WCC
2013	Lotus F1 Team	Renault RS27-2013	P	Kimi Räikkönen	1	7	2	2	2	10	9	5	2	2	Ret	11	3	2	5	7	Ret			315	4th
				Heikki Kovalainen																		14	14
				Romain Grosjean	10	6	9	3	Ret	Ret	13	19†	3	6	8	8	Ret	3	3	3	4	2	Ret
Sources:^[17]

^† Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed greater than 90% of the race distance.

References

^ ^a ^b Collantine, Keith (28 January 2013). "Allison expects rivals' cars to have stepped noses". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
^ "Lotus F1 Team :: Chassis E20". Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ "Lotus E21 - F1technical.net".
^ ^a ^b "Lotus E21 laser presentation". F1 Fanatic YouTube channel. YouTube. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
^ Noble, Jonathan; Beer, Matt (11 December 2013). "F1 teams expert enough to avoid early tyre struggles — Ross Brawn". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Kimi Raikkonen re-signs with Lotus for 2013". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Romain Grosjean will stay at Lotus for 2013 F1 season". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^ "@Lotus_F1Team: 16 January". Twitter. Twitter, Inc. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
^ Beer, Matt (23 January 2013). "Lotus to unveil 2013 F1 car via YouTube channel on 28 January". Autosport. Haymarket Media Group. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
^ Cooper, Adam (4 September 2012). "Lotus postpones DDRS 'Device' debut until Suzuka". Adam Cooper's F1 Blog. WordPress. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
^ Collantine, Keith (31 August 2012). "Lotus to put Double DRS 'device' on hold". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
^ Collantine, Keith (9 October 2012). "Lotus focus on exhaust after Double DRS problems". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 28 January 2013. Allison admitted the team had run into difficulty with its Double DRS, which has appeared several times in practice but hasn't been raced yet [...] "We're going to take it away, have another think and most likely give it another go in the Abu Dhabi Young Drivers' Test where we'll have more time to develop it in a systematic fashion."
^ "Lotus persists with passive double DRS". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
^ Broad, Ben (15 March 2012). "Formula 1 cars are ugly: Red Bull driver Mark Webber". Herald Sun. News Corporation. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
^ Noble, Jonathan (27 September 2012). "FIA approves plan to hide stepped noses". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
^ Collantine, Keith (28 January 2013). "Lotus E21 launch: First pictures and video". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
^ "All championship race entries, in a Lotus E21". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
"Lotus E21". StatsF1. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
"Classifications". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2019.