New Lotus Formula 1 car passes final crash tests
| By Jonathan Noble |
Monday, January 23rd 2012, 10:43 GMT |
 Kimi Raikkonen will definitely have his new Lotus ready for the first Formula 1 pre-season test after his outfit passed the last of its mandatory crash tests on Monday morning, AUTOSPORT can reveal.
As the former world champion began a private test at Valencia in Spain in a 2010-spec R30, exclusive pictures of which can be seen here, sources have confirmed his Enstone-based team was completing the last of its crash tests.
For the first time this year, F1 teams must pass the stringent FIA crash tests before they are allowed to run their cars on track - as opposed to only being required to do so for the first race of the campaign.
Lotus will unveil its 2012 car on its official website on February 5, prior to an official showing at the Jerez circuit the following day.
Raikkonen is due to kick off running of the new car for the first two days of the test from February 7, before handing it over to team-mate Romain Grosjean for the final two days.
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