It would be unfair to call the 99T the car that killed Team Lotus, but the circumstances surrounding its conception would hasten the end of a company which was already struggling to live up to its hallowed reputation.
The 99T’s predecessors, the 97T of 1985 and 98T of 1986, overseen by technical director Gérard Ducarouge, had been competitive enough to win races but insufficiently reliable to build a championship challenge. Engines and gearboxes had been unreliable and the swap from Pirelli to Goodyear tyres hadn’t delivered all the performance gains anticipated. Star driver Ayrton Senna was beginning to chafe.
Renault had solved one problem and created another by withdrawing from Formula 1, first as a team at the end of 1985 and then as an engine supplier at the close of ’86. Lotus now needed a new engine supplier and, having witnessed first-hand the seemingly ever-improving thrust and durability of Honda’s turbocharged V6, Senna wanted nothing else. He made it clear to team manager Peter Warr that if this could not be arranged, he would walk – and there were plenty of other teams as desperate for Senna’s services as Warr
