Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constructor | Lotus | ||||||||||
Designer(s) | Gérard Ducarouge | ||||||||||
Predecessor | 94T | ||||||||||
Successor | 97T | ||||||||||
Technical specifications | |||||||||||
Chassis | Kevlar / Nomex honeycomb monocoque | ||||||||||
Suspension (front) | Double wishbones, pull rod, coil springs | ||||||||||
Suspension (rear) | Double wishbones, pull rod, coil springs | ||||||||||
Axle track | Front: 1,800 mm (71 in) Rear: 1,700 mm (67 in) |
||||||||||
Wheelbase | 2,775 mm (109.3 in) | ||||||||||
Engine | Renault Gordini EF4, 1,492 cc (91.0 cu in), 90° V6, turbocharger, mid-engine, longitudinally mounted | ||||||||||
Transmission | Lotus / Hewland 5 speed manual | ||||||||||
Weight | 540 kg (1,190 lb) | ||||||||||
Fuel | Elf | ||||||||||
Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||||
Notable entrants | John Player Team Lotus | ||||||||||
Notable drivers | 11. Elio de Angelis 12. Nigel Mansell |
||||||||||
Debut | 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
The Lotus 95T was a Formula One racing car designed by Gérard Ducarouge for use by Team Lotus in the 1984 Formula One season. The car was powered by the Renault Gordini EF4 V6 turbo engine and ran on Goodyear tyres, after Lotus had switched from Pirelli. It was a development of the Lotus 94T, which had proved competitive at the end of 1983.
The car was driven Elio de Angelis and Nigel Mansell, both of whom were consistently competitive in a season otherwise dominated by McLaren. 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. With 34 points, he was third in the Drivers' Championship.
Mansell, meanwhile, finished third in France and the Netherlands, and was running second in the final race in Portugal when his brakes failed (which handed Niki Lauda the Drivers' Championship by half a point from Alain Prost). However, he also crashed out of the lead at a rain-hit Monaco (which prompted team boss Peter Warr, 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 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, who would replace him for 1985.