Lotus releases first image of new car

Lotus released an image of its 2014 Formula 1 car on Friday and unveiled a two-pronged solution to the new rules' controversial nose design.

Although Lotus has already announced that it will not run its new E22 until the second pre-season F1 test in Bahrain, it issued a computer-generated image of the new car via its Twitter feed.

The picture reveals that Lotus has split its nose section into two downward-sloping points. Front end aesthetics have been a huge talking point in F1 over the winter, with the 2014 rules mandating lower front ends but a loophole allowing teams to meet this demand with very narrow protusions.

Lotus has taken an alternative route to McLaren and Williams, the other two teams to have shown the front end of their 2014 designs so far, both of which have gone for central "finger" sections.

The Lotus image was released at the same time as McLaren held an online launch for its 2014 car. Earlier on Friday Lotus announced that its team boss Eric Boullier had left, with the Frenchman now expected to head to McLaren.

Lotus will field Romain Grosjean and ex-Williams driver Pastor Maldonado this season, the Venezuelan replacing Ferrari-bound Kimi Raikkonen.