The newly-renamed Lotus F1 Team have become the latest Formula One outfit to showcase their 2012 car, revealing the first glimpses of their E20 machine on Sunday evening ahead of the first test of the year in Jerez.
Lotus unveiled the car at the same time as launching their brand new website, after changing their name from Renault to Lotus for the new season.The launch itself went ahead in slightly haphazard fashion, with fans struggling to access the team's planned live video feed, though photographs of the car eventually emerged.
The E20, named after the fact that the car is the 20th design to come from the former Benetton and Renault team's base in Enstone, is the car they are hoping will help move them up the F1 pecking order.
The car features what is now becoming the standard 'platypus-nosed' design for 2012, though the step down at the nose section seems less pronounced than have been seen on rival cars.
The new car also features a number of new sponsor logos for the team, as well as what looks to be a tighter rear bodywork package.
Speaking at the launch, the team's co-owner Gerard Lopez said that he was hopeful that the team would be "strong" in 2012, after their poor campaign last season which saw them fail to build on some early promise in the R31 car.
"We hope to have a strong car, and have strong drivers, one of which is of course an ex-world champion," he muttered after seeing the car unveiled.
He added: "We hope to bring the car up to the front of the pack and probably try to aim for fourth [in the constructors championship] as a reasonable goal for this season."
The new car also represents the first for the team since they secured the right to be the only Lotus-affiliated car on the grid.
Last season saw Tony Fernandes's team also run as Team Lotus, but after a settlement between the two sides that team will now run as Caterham, with the former Renault team completing their Lotus rebranding over the winter.
"We're obviously extremely proud that finally the Lotus name is a clear concept for everybody in Formula One now," Lopez grinned regarding the end to the brief Lotus v Lotus war.
Last season, the team struggled with development of their radical front-exiting exhausts, something they have dropped completely for 2012 following the FIA banning exhaust blown diffusers.
But despite their development issues in 2011, team boss Eric Boullier said that the new car was still full of a number of innovations.
"It's true that the team's reputation is good in terms of innovation and we brought through the last years some nice ones, and let's say some more delicate ones, but definitely we have some this year," he rambled after the launch.
As for 2012, he added: "My biggest hope is obviously to bring this positivity back again and to make sure this team is again at the front of the grid and for many years and a long time.
"Also, to have all the people in Enstone enjoying life here and enjoying their passion for motor racing and F1. The fear is that we can have anything wrong which you cannot expect or handle and which would slow down this process."
The Lotus driver line-up for 2012 features returning 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen and 2011 GP2 Series champion Romain Grosjean.
The E20 will undergo a brief shakedown test at the Jerez circuit on Monday, before Raikkonen completes the first official day of testing in the car at the same track on Tuesday.
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