Formula 1's great Lotus landmarks - Lotus 25

There are few constructors in motorsport's hallowed history that embody Formula 1's pioneering spirit better than Lotus. Enzo Ferrari mocked the garagistes for being somehow lesser entities than his own, but the Old Man had to respect their ingenuity - and their success, because ultimately that's what F1 is all about: innovating and winning.

And Lotus definitely knew how to win: 71 times, between a Stirling Moss Lotus 18 special at the Monaco Grand Prix of 1960 and Mario Andretti's final victory of 1978 at the Dutch GP in the gorgeous Lotus 79, Colin Chapman's cars beat all the rest. That meant Lotus, in its 1960s and 1970s pomp, exceeded Ferrari's hit rate. Lotus was the best team in F1.

To rival F1's grandest and most successful outfit, it remains the case that you need to produce cars that are something a bit special. This was as true in Chapman's time as it is now for Mercedes in the V6 hybrid era, or Red Bull in the V8 era, or McLaren and Williams before that. Ferrari sets the standard by which all others must be judged, and Lotus exceeded that standard.

To mark F1's celebration of the 1000th world championship race at last year's Chinese Grand Prix, Ben Anderson conducted a special track test for Autosport magazine. And now that the world championship is celebrating its 70th birthday, it seemed a good time to revisit four milestone machines.

Thanks to Colin Chapman's son Clive, and the Classic Team Lotus concern that he runs which helps keep the Lotus name alive in historic motorsport, we conducted a track test of four of the very best Lotus F1 cars to ever grace a circuit. The type 25, 49, 72 and 79 designs represent F1 at its innovative best - redefining the boundaries of competition for their contemporaries and pioneering concepts that still hold relevance today.

So happy 70th birthday to the F1 world championship - this is the first article in a four-part tribute to Lotus, and to you.

Driving the Lotus 25

By Ben Anderson

Jim Clark was probably the greatest Formula 1 driver of his generation - Jackie Stewart certainly thinks so - and the Lotus 25 chassis R4 is an iconic part of Clark's all-too-short career.

He enjoyed his most successful season in F1 with this car, winning seven of the 10 championship races, and becoming world champion for the first time in 1963. But this car didn't only propel Clark to the status of a legend, it also pioneered the now-ubiquitous use of monocoque chassis.

While developing the Elan road car and torsion-testing it, Derek Jolly and Colin Chapman were surprised at how stiff the backbone chassis was. They came up with the idea of using it for an F1 car and Chapman sketched it out.

"The type 25's packaging gave a significant benefit, a much stronger chassis, a better place to put the fuel and achieved a 17% reduction in frontal area, which from a drag point of view is a huge step" Clive Chapman

He'd been struggling to make the spaceframe Lotus 24 any smaller and frontal area was key, particularly in the 1.5-litre formula that had come in for 1961. The 'twin-boom' design of the 25 also meant there was a natural place for the (rubber bag) fuel tanks down the sides. The monocoque was also more rigid than a spaceframe design.

The 25 was fairly late in development for 1962. Lotus had planned to race the 24 and customers weren't too pleased when the 25 appeared for the season-opening Dutch Grand Prix, which Clark led until suffering transmission problems.

Clark and Lotus set the pace for most of the season, taking three wins and six poles, but unreliability allowed Graham Hill and BRM to steal the crown. There was no such trouble in 1963 and Clark - driving R4 - stormed to his first title.

"The end result was it replaced the need for a spaceframe chassis," explains Chapman Jr. "The 24 had shrunk that as much as possible, but the 25 laid Clark down even more. The type 25's packaging gave a significant benefit, a much stronger chassis, a better place to put the fuel and achieved a 17% reduction in frontal area, which from a drag point of view is a huge step. It's one of those win-win-win situations.

"The 25, with those trumpet exhausts, when it's at full chat it really makes a fabulous noise."

Before we can properly open the throttle to unleash that fabulous sound around Lotus's Hethel test track, I must find a way to cram my six-foot-plus frame into a car designed specifically for Clark. It turns out I'm leaner but significantly taller than Clark was, so there is scant room to play with.

I can't get in or out without the bodywork being removed. I also borrow smaller race boots so I can use the pedals without snagging the chassis. This leads to Classic Team Lotus christening me 'Flipper' (thanks guys!).

It takes some time to warm the 25's Coventry Climax V8 on this cool March morning. Autosport's social media guru Ed Surtees's bag is even temporarily brought in to play to cover the radiator. I rub my hands together and rev the engine with increasing vigour, encouraged by legendary Lotus mechanic Bob Dance, who stands alongside the car, clipboard in hand.

"It's like an old friend," says the man who ran Clark, among many others. It feels so special to just be sitting in this car, let alone taking it out for a proper run.

When you start racing, pretty much every kid wants to be a Formula 1 driver. It's the dream. Some are lucky enough to go all the way, most of us fall by the wayside. I never thought I'd get to drive a proper, bona fide F1 car (let alone four in one day!), so this is a massive moment.

Accelerating out of the pits for the first time, I'm overwhelmed by the feeling that I'm simply not worthy of driving Jim Clark's car. I want to be careful with it because it's a living museum of one of the greatest drivers in F1 history, and I don't feel there's any way I will do him justice. What's more, the car feels scatty on cold tyres, and there is a lot to take in while I learn the track, just trying to build my confidence.

The car features 'wobbly web' wheels (another Chapman innovation originally used on aircraft) and skinny treaded tyres, which don't offer much on a chilly day in March and a green track surface.

It's wonderful to open her up around the back of the circuit, though. The engine (pumping out around 190bhp, slightly less than in period thanks to the lack of 'exotic' fuel) offers decent punch out of the corners, but then it hesitates like there's a bit of a hole in the power curve - perhaps because of the cold ambient temperatures.

The 25 is evocative, and just highlights how design cues have transferred through to lower formulas through subsequent decades

It feels as though it's running out of puff on the straights, notwithstanding the 9000rpm rev limit CTL has imposed, which forces me to back off at several points around the lap.

Once warmed up properly this car is fun to drive, though not particularly quick. It just sort of floats around the circuit. When you get the speed off into the chicane, it becomes really responsive, but as the speed increases, and challenges the degree of grip on offer, everything becomes less precise.

This, combined with the basic nature of the visuals and the controls, makes the 25 feel like being in an old Formula Ford, or even the Formula Vees I used to race - the tall, skinny tyres, the steering with a bit of unsettling play in it. All weirdly familiar, and reminiscent of Formula Junior, albeit with a better engine.

It's strange to think that this was at one stage the cutting edge of racing technology. But that basic imprint has remained recognisable in cars I raced a little less than 10 years ago now.

The 25 is evocative, and just highlights how design cues have transferred through to lower formulas through subsequent decades. This was a state of the art car, one that helped make the best driver of his era a legend of the world championship.

To have the chance to drive this car, which still races on successfully in historics thanks to the combination of owner John Bowers and driver Andy Middlehurst, was an absolute honour.

Three magic Lotus 25 moments

1962 German GP, Nurburgring

The combination of Clark and the Lotus 25 was the fastest package of 1962, but unreliability and the fine performances of Graham Hill and BRM meant both titles slipped through Colin Chapman's grasp. Clark won at Spa, Aintree and Watkins Glen, but our first pick was one of the races he lost.

Clark qualified 'only' third at the fearsome Nurburgring and then forgot to switch his fuel pumps on at the start. He began a charge that took him to fourth, and was closing on the three-way fight for the lead between Hill, John Surtees and Dan Gurney before a moment made him back off. It was a performance Clark always rated as one of his finest.

PLUS: The best drives of a lost F1 great

1963 Belgian GP, Spa

Many of Clark's 1963 drives looked similar. Start from pole, build a lead, win. But the race at Spa, a track Clark always hated, was a cut above. One of the finest F1 starts - from eighth to the lead by the first corner - was followed by a truly great wet-weather masterclass.

PLUS: Ranking F1's greatest wet-weather drives

Once Hill had retired, nobody could get close to Clark, despite the fact he had to hold the car in gear and drive one-handed around one of the fastest and most-daunting circuits in the world. Clark's final winning margin was five minutes.

1965 French GP, Clermont-Ferrand

The Lotus 33, which narrowly missed out on the 1964 titles and which took a championship double the year after, was an updated version of the 25. Clark won five word championships GPs in the 33 on his way to the 1965 crown, but the 25 got one last chance to shine at the French GP.

After both suspension and engine failures on his 33 during practice, Clark switched to the team's spare car, a 25 with many 33-stye upgrades but with an older-specification engine. Clark nevertheless took pole and then blew everyone away, leading throughout, setting fastest lap and winning by 26.3 seconds. All in a car that had made its debut more than three years earlier.

Our thanks to John Bowers, Clive Chapman, Classic Team Lotus and Lotus Cars.

Tomorrow's Lotus landmark: the type 49