[3] The chassis was designed by James Allison, Naoki Tokunaga, Martin Tolliday and Dirk de Beer with Renault continuing to supply engines.

[5] The E20 was the twentieth Formula One car to be designed at Enstone since 1992,[3] and was named in tribute to the contribution made by the facility and its personnel in their twenty-year history.

[21] Nevertheless, Lotus continued their development of a double-DRS system, which they referred to as "The Device",[22] and anticipated its introduction at the Belgian Grand Prix, one month later.

[24] Grosjean was replaced by the team's testing and reserve driver, Jérôme d'Ambrosio,[4] but d'Ambrosio's inexperience with the 2012-specification of cars and the low-downforce nature of the Monza circuit — which meant that any gain a double-DRS system had to offer would be negated — prompted the team to delay The Device's introduction even further, naming the Japanese Grand Prix in early October as their planned point of introduction.

[22] The team used the double-DRS system as planned during Friday practice, but shelved it until the third round of Young Driver Tests in November after being unhappy with their progress.

[29] With the double-DRS "Device" shelved for the foreseeable future, the team instead turned their attention to the exhaust, introducing a Coandă-effect system for the Korean Grand Prix.

[34] However, the team would go on to experience a difficult season in which they never quite made the most of the car's potential, let down by poor race management and frequent entanglements in on-track incidents.

[37][38] The team's troubles continued in China; once again, both drivers qualified inside the top ten,[39] but Räikkönen's race was compromised by poor tyre management and he lost eleven positions in a single lap.

[42] The team's fortunes came crashing back down to earth in Monaco when Grosjean was at the centre of a first-lap accident that put himself, Maldonado, Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa out of the race.

Räikkönen, meanwhile, struggled after losing valuable track time during Friday practice, as he was unhappy with parts introduced onto the car for the race.

[45] The British Grand Prix proved disappointing for Lotus, with Grosjean spinning off during qualifying and Räikkönen struggling with the wet conditions.

[47] Both drivers struggled in qualifying for the German Grand Prix, with Räikkönen starting tenth after being caught out by heavy rain in the middle of the session, and Grosjean managing no better than fifteenth.

Räikkönen, however, recovered in the race to finish fourth, inheriting a podium when Sebastian Vettel was given a twenty-second post-race penalty for passing Jenson Button off the circuit.

Romain Grosjean was once again involved in a first-lap incident when he cut across the circuit at the start, clipping Lewis Hamilton and being launched into Alonso and Sergio Pérez.

With Grosjean forced to miss the Italian Grand Prix, the team drafted their testing and reserve driver, Jérôme d'Ambrosio, to drive car #10 for the race.

[4] D'Ambrosio qualified sixteenth and took advantage of high-profile retirements for Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button to finish thirteenth, the last car to be classified on the lead lap.

[56] With eight first-lap incidents from fourteen starts to his name in 2012 alone, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner opined that Lotus "needed to control" Grosjean, describing the Frenchman as dangerous to himself and others.

[60] Räikkönen would later claim that a podium finish was possible, but mistakes made during the final free practice session and qualifying cost him dearly.

[61] One week later in Abu Dhabi, Räikkönen picked up two positions off the start line to be second as the cars began their first lap, inheriting the lead when Lewis Hamilton's McLaren developed a terminal electrical fault that forced him out of the race.

Grosjean spun out and crashed heavily early on in difficult conditions, while Räikkönen made a poor tyre choice and fell down the order.