Clever Lotus nose is legal says FIA
Lotus E22
Lotus' innovative double-pronged nose solution for 2014 has been declared legal by the FIA's Charlie Whiting.
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 less clear.
However, the FIA's technical chief and race director Whiting, who unlike Lotus is present at the Jerez test, said the E22 is "legal".
"The structure has withstood the crash tests and the concept adheres to the letter of the law," the Briton is quoted by France's Auto Hebdo.
"The approach is - without a doubt - different, but it is legitimate," Whiting declared.
"They presented the concept in the summer, and we did not find anything wrong with it. On the contrary, it is a very clever interpretation of the rules," he added.
The varying nose solutions up and down pitlane have attracted many column inches since the launch season began, but Ferrari's James Allison said the design of the very tip of the car is not so crucial.
"There are many concepts that work, and ours is one of them," he said, referring to Ferrari's more conservative solution that has been likened to a 'vacuum cleaner'.
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