Lotus Renault GP, which will be renamed as Lotus F1 next season, is planning to unveil their 2012-spec car on February 6, according to French media sources. The new car will be unveiled a day before the start of the first winter testing session at the Jerez circuit in Andalucia, Spain.

Newly-signed Lotus Renault drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, will be present to unveil the new car, although the name of the car is still unknown. Since the team is is planing to adopt Lotus as its chassis name starting in 2012, it is unlikely that the new car will be called the R32.

The new Lotus car is not expected to be particularly innovative, however, since the team has already stated that they plan to take a more conservative approach with the car that Raikkonen and Grosjean will race in their return to Formula 1 next year. Both of these drivers have not raced in Formula 1 since the 2009 season.

The Enstone-based team is the first team to confirm that its 2012-spec car will be ready in time for the first pre-season test. Although Red Bull has yet to confirm that they will make the first winter testing session in Jerez with its 2012 car, the team’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey is confident that the team is on schedule. Mercedes has already announced that it will miss the opening session in Jerez. The Mercedes AMG W03 will only make its debut on track on February 21 in Barcelona.

f1-zone.net