In 1993 as well, Peter Collins, team principal of Team Lotus, had to fight a tough battle to ensure the continued presence of the historic Hethel-based team in the top racing series. Constantly short of cash and with sponsors barely able to cover staff salaries, technical director Peter Wright had no choice but to reuse the same 107 from 1992. The car was updated to the "B" version by designer Chris Murphy, creator of the original Leyton House CG921 design from which the Lotus 107 of '92 was derived, to comply with the new 1993 technical regulations regarding rear tire width, front track width, and wings.
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| LOTUS 107B, Alessandro Zanardi Montréal, Canadian GP 1993 |
Like all the other cars on the 1993 grid, the Lotus cars also benefited from the option to install an additional overhanging wing in front of the main rear wing profile on high-downforce tracks, while the rest of the car remained largely unchanged, with the carbon fiber monocoque chassis once again housing the Ford-Cosworth HB V8 engine in its older spec 3 version, the same one first used by Benetton two seasons earlier. Paired with the Ford V8 was the six-speed semi-automatic Xtrac gearbox already used in the '92 car.
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| LOTUS 107B, Johnny Herbert Monza, Italian GP 1993 |
At a time when electronic aids were being fitted to all Formula 1 cars, the 107B was equipped only with the electronic suspension system developed by Lotus over ten years earlier, during the time of the late Colin Chapman and his right-hand man Martin Ogilvie, and refined throughout the years. However, the team’s budget was insufficient to properly develop and operate this system, which was no longer an exclusive advantage, as other teams had by now developed and, most importantly, improved their own versions. Moreover, the decision to channel the few available resources into the electronic suspension system, focusing all the technicians' efforts there, came at the expense of developing other parts of the car, which were already lacking and in need of more attention.
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| LOTUS 107B, Alessandro Zanardi Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1993 |
The soundness of the original 107 design, already evident during the '92 season where reliability was the car's main weakness, was once again demonstrated in the early races of the season, where returning British driver Johnny Herbert and newcomer Italian Alex Zanardi managed to achieve fairly decent results, such as in Brazil where both 107Bs finished in the points. As the season progressed, however, things worsened significantly, especially for the Italian driver, who was replaced in the final two races of the season by rookie Portuguese driver Pedro Lamy, while Herbert still managed to secure a couple more points finishes, in Britain and Belgium.
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| LOTUS 107B, Pedro Lamy Estoril, Portuguese gp 1993 |
At the end of the season, the results achieved by the 107B closely mirrored those of the previous year, with 12 points and sixth place in the 1993 Constructors' Championship, compared to the 13 points and fifth place earned by the earlier version of the car in 1992.
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