FIA’s Whiting says ‘clever’ Lotus nose is ‘legal’

FIA has officially declared that Lotus‘ innovative double-pronged nose solution for 2014 is legal.

Lotus has smartly done the ‘nosejob’ to its vehicle as the solution is even clearly assymetrical, apparently only to slip through a loophole in the rules, but whether the spirit of the regulations has been adhered to is not very clear.

However, the FIA’s technical chief and race director Charlie Whiting, who unlike Lotus is present at the Jerez test, said that the E22 is “legal”. He further said that the structure had withstood the crash tests and the concept also adheres to the letter of the law,” as quoted by France’s Auto Hebdo. Whiting said that “The approach is – without a doubt – different, but it is legitimate”.

The company has presented the concept in the summer, and FIA said that they did not find anything wrong with it. In fact the executive praised Lotus stating it was a very clever interpretation of the rules.

The varying nose solutions up and down pitlane have attracted many column inches since the launch season began, but Ferrari’s James Allison stated that the design of the very tip of the car was not a very important factor.