Lotus has become the latest team to reveal its 2014 campaigner, dubbed the E22, courtesy of a rather subdued release on social media.

Posting a picture it proclaimed as the new car on Twitter and Facebook it was initially difficult to tell whether the image released was genuine from a team not unknown to commit the odd piece of Twitter tomfoolery. Indeed, earlier in the day it had tweeted an image of a green and yellow skip, a thinly veiled swipe at Caterham, promising its new car didn't look anything like it.

The release of the E22 image, cynically posted minutes after McLaren had unveiled its contender, was something of a disappointment. Sharing much the same livery as its 2013 challenger, the single image (which looks computer generated) revealing a rather unique interpretation of the new nose design. Whereas both Williams and McLaren, which had released its car only moments before the Enstone team, opted for a bulbous extension at the end of the nose Lotus instead chose a design more akin to a forklift than a Formula One car.

Indeed it is somewhat reminiscent of the walrus Williams FW26 of 2004, only far more extreme as the nose splits in to two long forks which support the front wing.

Other notable features include PDVSA sponsorship on the rear wing and engine (sorry, power unit) cover courtesy of new recruit Pastor Maldonado, and an absence of any supporting material aside from a statement earlier in the day confirming Eric Boullier's shock departure.

Speculation now links Boullier with a move to McLaren, a rumour fuelled by the team's insouciant Twitter account posting a picture of what it claimed was Boullier's leaving present; a copy of 50 Shades of Grey.

Of course the real question is whether the car is fast on track, when it eventually makes it next month, or if indeed it handles as it looks; like a forklift.

Mat Coch

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by ape, 24/01/2014 21:41

"Good to see something innovative , i am going to like this team , it seems they have a lot of clever people."

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2. Posted by LifelessDead, 24/01/2014 18:06

"Wow! I really like this one! It's so far out of the box that it's probably in a different galaxy!

Apparently one tip is longer than the other because the rules mandate a single nose tip (ahem, measures from the point of impact). But I thought it also mandated a single cross-section, which this seems to violate. We'll see... I still like the idea, although a symmetrical one would look a lot better, a bit like Williams/BMW's tusks!"

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3. Posted by stoney, 24/01/2014 15:49

"Is it me, or is one.... how should I say, ... nostril of the nose longer than the other?"

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Lotus unveils E22 forklift

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