TOP 10 LOTUS FORMULA 1 CARS
PHOTOGRAPHY
10 LOTUS 107
Years 1992-94 | Wins 0 Drivers’ titles 0 Constructors’ titles 0
Lotus, under different management, was in its declining years in the early 1990s, but the Chris Murphy-designed 107 was a neat, attractive and competitive car that was a points scorer across two seasons and lifted Lotus back into the top six of the world championship.
With the 102, Lotus had slumped to 13th fastest in 1991, but it leapt to sixth the following year. Mika Hakkinen and Johnny Herbert used the customer Ford HB V8-engined 107 and were often threats for points – when they were only awarded to the top six. Reliability was a problem, but the 107 was good enough to take Lotus to fifth in the constructors’ championship, its best result since 1988.
The car was developed into 107B spec for 1993 and ran active suspension, with Herbert scoring the lion’s share of the points alongside new team-mate Alex Zanardi. A limited budget meant Lotus was never likely to challenge the era’s big hitters Williams, McLaren, Benetton and Ferrari, but had topped the midfield in 1992 and was sixth, behind Ligier, the following year.
The 107C, now with Mugen-Honda V10 power, started the 1994 campaign, after all the gizmos had been banned. It was replaced by the 109, but
