After losing team principal Eric Boullier to McLaren shortly before the start of the new season, Lotus surprisingly issued the first images of its new E22 while McLaren were holding a launch for their car.
The surprising styling of the Lotus, featuring two ‘tusks’ of differing lengths at the front of the car which served to meet new restrictions on nose dimensions, attracted much comment.
However the E22 was the only one of the 11 new cars launched at the start of the 2014 season which wasn’t ready in time for the first test of the year at Jerez. It made its first public appearance at the second test in Bahrain on February 19th.