Team Lotus F1 Team Stats & History

It seems like Colin Chapman also could spot great, talented drivers miles away. A lot of drivers who started their F1 career at Lotus became world champions later on.

The following drivers started at Lotus and won one or more drivers' titles: Mario Andretti, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mika Hakkinen and John Surtees.

Team Lotus F1 Drivers List

Driver	GP	1st	2nd	3rd	Pod	Pole	Laps	FL	PTS
Elio de Angelis	91	2	2	5	9	3	3984	0	119
Mario Andretti	79	11	2	3	16	17	3317	8	147
Jim Clark	72	25	1	6	32	33	3930	28	274
Graham Hill	61	4	6	0	10	5	2856	2	89
Nigel Mansell	60	0	0	5	5	1	2353	1	38
Ronnie Peterson	59	9	6	3	18	13	2780	7	144
Johnny Herbert	54	0	0	0	0	0	2265	0	13
Ayrton Senna	48	6	10	6	22	16	2470	6	150
Emerson Fittipaldi	43	9	6	5	20	4	2404	5	144
Satoru Nakajima	43	0	0	0	0	0	1894	1	11
Innes Ireland	38	1	2	1	4	0	1561	1	37
Jo Siffert	36	1	1	1	3	1	1580	3	28
Nelson Piquet	31	0	0	3	3	0	1488	0	34
Gunnar Nilsson	31	1	0	3	4	0	1316	1	31
Mika Häkkinen	30	0	0	0	0	0	1443	0	13
Jacky Ickx	24	0	1	2	3	0	1078	0	15
Mike Spence	24	0	0	1	1	0	1156	0	18
Alessandro Zanardi	21	0	0	0	0	0	903	0	1
Trevor Taylor	20	0	1	0	1	0	839	0	7
Jochen Rindt	19	6	1	1	8	8	921	3	67
Hector Rebaque	18	0	0	0	0	0	842	0	1
Derek Warwick	16	0	0	0	0	0	746	0	3
Carlos Reutemann	15	0	2	2	4	0	659	0	25
Johnny Dumfries	15	0	0	0	0	0	661	0	3
Reine Wisell	14	0	0	1	1	0	707	0	13
John Miles	13	0	0	0	0	0	373	0	2
Peter Arundell	13	0	0	2	2	0	563	0	12
Martin Donnelly	13	0	0	0	0	0	509	0	0
Masten Gregory	12	0	0	0	0	0	497	0	1
Stirling Moss	12	4	0	0	4	4	690	2	40
David Walker	11	0	0	0	0	0	481	0	0
Jim Hall	11	0	0	0	0	0	622	0	3
Mike Hailwood	11	0	0	0	0	0	529	0	1
Chris Amon	11	0	0	0	0	0	288	0	2
Cliff Allison	9	0	0	0	0	0	427	0	3
Jackie Oliver	9	0	0	1	1	0	312	1	6
Maurice Trintignant	9	0	0	0	0	0	183	0	0
Richard Attwood	9	0	0	0	0	0	537	0	5
Pedro Lamy	8	0	0	0	0	0	379	0	0
Alan Stacey	7	0	0	0	0	0	220	0	0
Jack Brabham	6	0	0	0	0	0	273	0	3
Dave Charlton	6	0	0	0	0	0	104	0	0
Pete Lovely	6	0	0	0	0	0	341	0	0
Moisés Solana	6	0	0	0	0	0	246	0	0
Pedro Rodríguez	5	0	0	0	0	0	164	0	0
Michael May	4	0	0	0	0	0	90	0	0
Peter Revson	4	0	0	0	0	0	153	0	0
Lucien Bianchi	4	0	0	0	0	0	104	0	0
Wolfgang Seidel	4	0	0	0	0	0	73	0	0
John Surtees	4	0	1	0	1	1	134	1	6
Walt Hansgen	3	0	0	0	0	0	107	0	2
Tony Maggs	3	0	0	0	0	0	160	0	0
Henry Taylor	3	0	0	0	0	0	93	0	0
Gerry Ashmore	3	0	0	0	0	0	20	0	0
Brian Henton	3	0	0	0	0	0	102	0	0
Philippe Adams	2	0	0	0	0	0	82	0	0
Paul Hawkins	2	0	0	0	0	0	82	0	0
Jim Crawford	2	0	0	0	0	0	74	0	0
Gerhard Mitter	2	0	0	0	0	0	22	0	0
Tony Marsh	2	0	0	0	0	0	38	0	0
Mika Salo	2	0	0	0	0	0	98	0	0
Tim Parnell	2	0	0	0	0	0	52	0	0
Neville Lederle	2	0	0	0	0	0	78	0	1
David Piper	2	0	0	0	0	0	91	0	0
Ian Burgess	2	0	0	0	0	0	111	0	0
Jo Bonnier	2	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	0
Willy Mairesse	2	0	0	0	0	0	34	0	0
Mike Fisher	2	0	0	0	0	0	81	0	0
Giacomo-Geki Russo	2	0	0	0	0	0	100	0	0
Jean-Pierre Jarier	2	0	0	0	0	1	104	1	0
Gaetano Starrabba	2	0	0	0	0	0	19	0	0
John Campbell-Jones	2	0	0	0	0	0	16	0	0
John Love	2	0	0	0	0	0	109	0	0
Hap Sharp	2	0	0	0	0	0	67	0	0
Ernie Pieterse	2	0	0	0	0	0	74	0	0
Bernard Collomb	1	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	0
Rob Schroeder	1	0	0	0	0	0	93	0	0
Ernesto Prinoth	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Geoff Lees	1	0	0	0	0	0	52	0	0
Giancarlo Baghetti	1	0	0	0	0	0	50	0	0
Bob Evans	1	0	0	0	0	0	77	0	0
Tim Schenken	1	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0
Rodger Ward	1	0	0	0	0	0	44	0	0
Lloyd Ruby	1	0	0	0	0	0	76	0	0
Jay Chamberlain	1	0	0	0	0	0	64	0	0
Alberto-Rodriguez Larreta	1	0	0	0	0	0	77	0	0
Eppie Wietzes	1	0	0	0	0	0	69	0	0
Syd van der Vyver	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bruce Halford	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Olivier Gendebien	1	0	0	0	0	0	92	0	0
Günther Seiffert	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Julian Bailey	1	0	0	0	0	0	58	0	1
Kurt Kuhnke	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Irwin	1	0	0	0	0	0	88	0	0
Tony Shelly	1	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0
Ron Flockhart	1	0	0	0	0	0	49	0	1
Bob Bondurant	1	0	0	0	0	0	29	0	0
Sam Tingle	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Phil Hill	1	0	0	0	0	0	34	0	0
Brausch Niemann	1	0	0	0	0	0	66	0	0
Nino Vaccarella	1	0	0	0	0	0	84	0	0
Eddie Keizan	1	0	0	0	0	0	76	0	0
Paddy Driver	1	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0
Gary Hocking	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Roger Penske	1	0	0	0	0	0	96	0	0
Ivor Bueb	1	0	0	0	0	0	13	0	0
Guy Tunmer	1	0	0	0	0	0	76	0	0
Éric Bernard	1	0	0	0	0	0	66	0	0
Thomas Monarch	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rolf Stommelen	1	0	0	0	0	0	13	0	0
Ken Miles	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Piers Courage	1	0	0	0	0	0	51	0	0
Heinz Schiller	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
Ian Scheckter	1	0	0	0	0	0	76	0	0
Bill Brack	1	0	0	0	0	0	18	0	0
Carlo Abate	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Watson	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Peter Ryan	1	0	0	0	0	0	96	0	0

Team Lotus History

Colin Chapman at the German grand prix in 1979

A pioneering name in the sixties and seventies of Formula One was Colin Chapman’s Lotus; the cars were at the pinnacle of the British Invasion. In total, they have won seven constructors' championships and have won 79 Grands Prix and are one of the most successful teams in the sport's history.

Each era in the sport has a lethal partnership, a combination of man and machine which is unparalleled anywhere else. Ferrari & Schumacher, McLaren & Senna, Fangio & Maserati and in the sixties it was Lotus & Jim Clark. Britain’s most famous racing driver won two titles for Colin Chapman and the Lotus team at the height of the swinging sixties. Lotus had overtaken Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Maserati to become the sport's dominant force.

Sadly, this couldn't be sustained, and after the rise came the fall. The eighties and nineties were hard for the team, and eventually they went out of business in 1994. They are, however, back, albeit under a different guise; the Lotus name still remains, and it deserves to be cherished.

Stirling Moss wins the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix in the Lotus Mk18

The Team Lotus first debuted in 1958. In 1960, Chapman was the first F1 car designer to put the engine in the back of the car instead of the front, which had never been seen before.

The team won 2 races with it. Their first victory arrived in 1960 when Stirling Moss won the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix with a 1 minute and 8 sec lead on Bruce McLaren, who was on P2.

Jim Clark’s talent was so great that he was soon catapulted into the Lotus seat by his friend and mentor Colin Chapman. The decision worked wonders as Clarke won a record seven races in the 1963 season to comfortably claim the World Championship. The Scot narrowly lost out to John Surtees’ Ferrari in 1964, but returned with aplomb in 1965 to already earn Lotus their second title in three years.

Lotus 43 driven by Jim Clark Dutch F1 GP (19767)

Chapman’s cars were criticised for being too light, and built with just speed in mind. Their brittleness was on show when problems with Clark’s car in the final race of 1964 cost him the chance to defend his title. The cars were, many believed, not safe enough and the list of drivers hurt or killed in them is hard evidence.

Lotus struggled to acclimatise to rule changes in the wake of Clarke’s success and had to wait until 1968 for a return to good fortune. At the season’s opening race, Clark led home a Lotus 1-2 in what would be his last race win before his untimely death. James Clarke died in Germany during a F2 race. He was driving a car from a previous season with a wing modification designed by Colin Chapman. Nobody knows what happened, because he crashed on a high-speed section in the woods.

Lotus 78 driven by Mario Andretti 2nd place (1978-1979)

The strong personality of Graham Hill helped the team survive Clarke’s death and the Englishman valiantly won the 68 title. Chapman’s supposedly ‘weak’ cars were becoming a talking point up and down the grid. Jochen Rindt, while in contention for the 1970 title, crashed fatally at Monza. With his points total too big for anyone to challenge, he became the first and, to this day, only posthumous World Champion.

Young and flamboyant Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi lifted the title in 72 and Mario Andretti in 1978, when Lotus was the first to understand the ground effect of sidepods. They dominated the 1978 season and won 8 races that season. The Lotus 78 was the first car with features that cars of today are still based on.

Ayrton Senna driving the Lotus 97T (1985)

After 1978, the good days of Lotus were beginning to fade as the sport reached a new era. The team did become the first constructor to reach 50 grand prix wins, beating Ferrari, who had been the sport for an extra seven years. Instead of employing the finest drivers on the grid,  Lotus became a team who investing in the future and helped young drivers reach the top of the sport. Both of Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna past through the team in the eighties, while Mika Hakkinen spent a season there in the 1990’s.

Results were unspectacular with no wins but solid championship finishes. With debts spiralling out of control in the mid-nineties, the team folded and went into liquidation. One of the sport's great names was lost after their last season in 1994.

The Lotus F1 Team that was in F1 from 2011 to 2015 had its roots in the former Toleman Motorsport team, which made its entry back in 1981 and has nothing to do with the original team. It came out of the Renault team and went back to Renault in 2016.

Team Lotus F1 Results

Team Lotus Championship Positions

7× Constructors' Championships1963–1978

Seven constructors' titles in sixteen seasons, and fifteen years between the first and the last.

• 196354 pts18 clear of BRMsealed at 1963 Italian F1 GP
• 196554 pts9 clear of BRMsealed at 1965 German F1 GP
• 196862 pts13 clear of McLaren-Fordsealed at 1968 Mexican F1 GP
• 197059 pts7 clear of Ferrarisealed at 1970 USA F1 GP
• 197261 pts10 clear of Tyrrell-Fordsealed at 1972 Italian F1 GP
• 197392 pts10 clear of Tyrrell-Fordsealed at 1973 USA F1 GP
• 197886 pts28 clear of Ferrarisealed at 1978 Dutch F1 GP

Team Lotus Finish Positions