The COAT - Round One - Lotus 101 vs Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid

[crmalcolm]

The ninth match in Round One sees a car potentially best known for its livery up against another car from the Mercedes Hybrid-era. The Lotus 101 vs the Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid.

Lotus 101 (petrolicious.com):

Many nails were sunk into the coffin of Lotus before the team eventually called it a day, but one of the biggest hammers pounding them in during the 1989 season came in the form of the Lotus 101.

1989 saw a number of technical restrictions introduced to the sport, including the expulsion of the turbo engines that made up most of the grid in ’88. For Lotus, this meant a move from Honda power to Judd for the new season, with a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V8. The car was rushed into life over a five-week period, and would ultimately prove to be a disaster that resulted in wholesale changes in the Lotus management team.

While it may have been a dog compared to the rest of the cars from the driver’s seat, on paper and in person it is a stunning machine. The fabulous Camel livery is simple, bold, and mesmerizing in its unique pale yellow-orange hue. As a boy, this was the first Scalextric car I owned, and even now I have a model of the previous year’s car on my shelf at home, which wore the same livery as the car you see here. Miniatures are great, but in the flesh the Lotus 101 is even more beautiful of course, so I was delighted to learn that a restoration of one of the four 101s that were built was to be demoed at the Castle Combe Autumn Classic. The Judd power plant allowed the Lotus engineers at the time to build a very sleek and narrow car, making it one of the smaller ones in the paddock. It was light too, as Lotus’s tend to be, and with the absence of any active/adaptive suspension (the addition of which in the year prior was insisted upon by the then-#1 driver Ayrton Senna) also reduced the bulk of the 101. The resulting design was so slim in fact, that a specially designed steering wheel had to be built to fit into the confined dimensions of the cockpit.


Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid (goodwood.com):
Mercedes’s achievements over the last six seasons of hybrid-powered F1 are, quite frankly, extraordinary. They eclipse even the performance of Ferrari in that early-2000s blitz. While it might not have managed as high a win percentage in a single season as McLaren in 1988, the continued nature of this winning streak must put this at the very top of the table for F1 teams performances. And, even in that run, there is one season which stands up as Mercedes’ annus mirabalus, amazingly it’s the one season in the run where Lewis Hamilton did not win the title – because his team-mate did. In 2016 Hamilton took, a quite frankly bonkers, ten victories, including two separate runs of four in a row. His team-mate Nico Rosberg, won nine, but followed the Englishman home in second more times, retired only once (when the Mercedes pair collided in Spain) and won the title. The W07 that carried them to these feats therefore took 19 race wins in a single season – a record – and secured a win rate of 90.4 per cent.

It holds some serious records too. As well as the aforementioned most wins in a season, it also has the most points in a championship season (765), the most podiums (33), the most pole positions in a season (20) and the highest percentage of poles in a season (95.2). The heart of Mercedes success has been an incredible understanding of the 1.6-litre V6 regulations, and the PU106C engine that powered the W07 was the class of the field. That dominance in the engine department allowed Mercedes to experiment with its design, with the W07 looking distinct from many of its competitors, with a lower nose and none of the protrusions many were still carrying to meet the safety regulations.

Mercedes have won every championship since the W07, but they have never recaptured that incredible dominance. And yet, somehow, there also hasn’t been as competitive a season since, with Rosberg and Hamilton’s title fight going down to the very last round, and a battle at the very front of the race.

[Aysedasi]

On results, the Merc has it hands-down, but on looks, boy that Lotus was a cracker....

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

On results, the Merc has it hands-down, but on looks, boy that Lotus was a cracker....

That's why I'm liking this bracket so far. It's easier (for me) to make an emotional vote based on appearance rather than statistical standings.

[Aysedasi]

Yes, for me too. (Mostly....)

[S griffin]

The Merc. The Lotus 101 was a sign the great team was on a decline. No podiums after a long run and both cars failed to qualify for the Belgian GP, which never happened before