Colin Chapman, the brilliant Lotus engineer who revolutionized the evolution of F1, was a key man even for catering business, as he was the one who brought Keith Duckworth (Cosworth) together with Ford people. Thus emerged the Ford-Cosworth union, which would result in a record of success over decades of F1 competition.
Chapman felt that in order to evaluate developments, he could not make all the modifications together. For this reason, the chassis remained very similar to the previous one except for a big change: the engine became another element of the chassis of the car. Thus, the rear suspension was attached to a subchassis linked to the engine, which in turn was attached to the body from behind the pilot.
The Ford DFV engine used on the Lotus 49 had a displacement of 2,993 cm3 and an initial power of 408 hp, which would then reach 430 hp.
One of the best drivers Lotus and F1 saw was Jim Clark, who won the first race for the Lotus Ford combination at the Netherlands Grand Prix in 1967. That same year Clark triumphed in England, the United States and Mexico; reaching third place in the drivers' championship and second place in builders for Lotus.
The 1968 season had a sweet and sour taste for Lotus. Jim Clark won the first race in South Africa but a few days later he died in an accident in Germany, running in another category. Lotus's chances fell on his second pilot Graham Hill. Winning three Grand Prix (Spain, Monaco and Mexico) Hill was consecrated Champion and Lotus won the Constructors Cup.
The Lotus team surprised again in 1969, when the Lotus 49B incorporated spoilers and flaps to generate downforce and gain dynamic stability. But in the competition disputed in Spain the spoilers of both cars broke, causing loss of control and accidents in both cases. This led to the ban on spoilers.
Lotus won two races in 1969. Graham Hill prevailed in Monaco and Jochen Rindt in the United States, where Hill had a terrible accident. Although he recovered physically and continued to compete in F1, he never regained his driving level. That year didn't leave much glory for the team.
In the 1970 season Lotus introduced the “49C”, an optimized version of the 49B. Jochen Rindt had an excellent campaign, winning in Monaco and then another four consecutive Grand Prix.
However, Rindt died in an accident in practice for the Italian GP, becoming the only post-mortem Formula 1 World Champion. Ironically, Rindt had announced his retirement for the end of the season. Lotus won the Constructors' Cup with a tight margin over Ferrari.
© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —
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