Lotus may not have been first in the Formula 1 Constructor’s Championship last season, but they're the first team to reveal their new 2013 chassis – the E21.

Harkening back to liveries of the mid-seventies, the E21 retains the classic black and gold paint scheme, with an additional slight smattering of red accents. And, as last year, the new chassis os propelled by Renault’s 2.4L 90-degree V8 engine.

In the wake of the inconceivably ugly "platypus" stepped-nose design introduced last year, teams were given the option of running a so-called "modesty plate" on their 2013 cars to smooth the transition between the nose cone and main chassis. The Lotus E21 forgoes this, because lightness.

“We have not done it yet because the cosmetic panel would weigh a few grams and with a Formula One car putting a few grams on that you don’t need to is anathema to us,” explains James Allison, technical director of Lotus.

“However, if we find a cosmetic panel that looks nice but, much more importantly and crucially, develops a bit of downforce, then we’ll pop it on quick as you like,” he adds.

The 2013 Lotus F1 driver lineup remains unchanged with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain ‘Crash’ Grosjean teamed up for their second consecutive year.

The most fun thing about the E21? As shown the slideshow above, Kimi’s car has the best steering wheel ever.

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