Chapman, well surrounded

Colin Chapman, surrounded by his two 1981 drivers, Nigel Mansell and Elio de Angelis, proudly presents his latest creation, the Lotus 87, still in the iconic John Player Special livery, in front of his Ketteringham Hall mansion. (open photo above to see it in full).

The Lotus 87, powered by the Ford-Cosworth DFV V8, was designed for the 1981 Formula One season by Colin Chapman, Martin Ogilvie, and Peter Wright, but was not entered in competition until the Monaco Grand Prix, the sixth round of the season. It had an aluminum monocoque and weighed only 587 kg.

Mansell accumulated retirements, but finished the season with a fine fourth place in Las Vegas, while de Angelis was more consistent in scoring points, and also finished with a fourth place (at Monza) as his best result, in a championship won by Nelson Piquet (Brabham).