The Lotus chassis is not a bad package. Its proven itself to be excellent in fact, hence it is often carrying the Renault right there with the Red Bull. Where Lotus struggle is mid season development. They don't have the cash flow to keep up with Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes and McLaren. They need a backer willing to pay the big bucks needed. AS for Newey designed cars being so great: it true to a limited context in that Mr Newey does a great job of working with his engineers to have the most integrated package on the grid. But it is also worth noting that never in his history in F1 has he had the level of domination that he has enjoyed with Sebastian Vettel. In 1988 through 90 he designed really slippery cars for Leyton House March. Then he moved to Williams Renault and gave Mansell a fantastic car in 91 92, prost in 93 and the 94 car was a bit of a disaster initially but he sorted it out. His worst period while winning was in 1995 to1997 with Hill, Villeneuve and Coulthard. None of those drivers really could get the Newey cars to be dominant, but they still took the champs in those years. In 98 with Hakkinen at McLaren he was back on top, dominantly and a repeat in 99 after Schumacher sat out most of the season. But in 2000 through to 2008 He did not have a team or driver capable of delivering. Its only after the rule change end of 2008 that he got back on top and mostly again with Master Vettel behind the wheel. Save for the year when Hill, Villeneuve and Coulthard drove and the 92 to 93 perios with active suspension automatic cars, His cars were only dominant in the hands of drivers who have been recognised as being exceptional talents. So its not just Newey that should be given credit, its also the driver. F1 is ultimately a team sport. Fans like to break things down to the "Magic bullet" which is generally disingenuous to the way F1 works ultimately. SO as for the Lotus, its probably as very good package overall in comparison to the Red Bull and has the same engine and therefore the same power available. Its proven to be better on the tyres than the other cars which says it better balanced overall. But in the Red Bull, you have a youngster who has proven himself to be the measure of his rivals. Much is made of Alonso but he won both his championship at Renault (formerly Benetton, Then Renault, now Lotus) who have a history of designing brilliant F1 cars using Michelin tyres which were the rubber to have in the mid 2000's. He's a great driver, one of the best but to write off Vettel's achievement to simply "Newey" is not fully understanding the whole picture
