The new Type 107 was described by Peter Collins as the car he and Peter Wright wanted to build when they took over Lotus in 1991. It had taken nearly a season and a half to put together the necessary research and development.

Development problems meant in the San Marino Grand Prix meant that Herbert was at the back of the grid in the new 107, but at least he did better than Hakkinen in the old car.

The following race in Monaco gave Team Lotus their first Top Ten qualifying position of the year with 9th for Herbert.
Both cars retired, but it was clear that the speed was there.

Qualifying in Canada went even better with Herbert an impressive 6th and Hakkinen 10th, even though the race again heralded a double retirement.

The French Grand Prix didn�t bring a Top 10 qualifying position, but it delivered reliability and results.
Hakkinen got an excellent 4th place and Herbert claimed his second 6th place of the year.

Team Lotus' home race at Silverstone gave 7th and 8th on the grid. Johnny ran in the Top 6 until near the end when his Lotus jammed in gear.
His 6th place was then taken by Hakkinen to give Lotus their second successive points finish.

The German Grand Prix was less successful with a double retirement, but Hungary gave Hakkinen his second 4th place of 1992, while the following Belgian Grand Prix saw Hakkinen finish 6th after starting 8th.

The Italian Grand Prix at Monza only saw a 13th place fall the way of Herbert, but Portugal gave Hakkinen a 5th place finish.
Lotus also impressed in Japan at the Suzuka circuit with both Herbert and Hakkinen running 3rd at some point during the race, though both retired.

The final race of 1992 gave Team Lotus a double finish with Hakkinen 7th and Herbert 13th.

Suddenly optimism had returned to Team Lotus.
Collins and Wright, along with Herbert and Hakkinen had stopped the downward slide.
At the end of the season, Lotus were a proud 5th in the Constructors Championship, with Hakkinen 8th and Herbert equal 14th in the Driver Standings.

1993 saw the 107 modified to B specification.
Herbert stayed on, but Hakkinen had left to join McLaren as test driver.
The number 11 Lotus was now driven by Alessandro Zanardi, the 1990 European Formula 3 Cup winner.

The 107B was given a new colour scheme, red, white and green.

The first race of 1993 season in South Africa saw a double retirement with Zanardi stopping due to a collision with Damon Hill�s Williams.
Round 2 in Brazil proved to be the highlight of 1993.
In changeable weather conditions that caught out even Alain Prost, Herbert found himself in 3rd place when the race settled down, though he had Schumacher in the Benetton closing on him.
Schumacher got through, but Herbert immediately re-passed him.
Unfortunately, Johnny�s defence couldn�t be sustained and the more powerful Benetton found a way through and stayed in front.
4th place though was still a good result, and it was even better when Zanardi came home 6th, making Lotus the only team with two cars in the Top 6.

The third round of 1993 was the European Grand Prix at Donnington Park. In wet-dry-wet conditions most of the field pitted for tyres to match the weather conditions.
Prost in the Williams pitted 7 times, but Herbert pitted once, reasoning that more time would be saved riding the storm.
The reward was his second consecutive 4th place, with Zanardi in 8th.

The next Grand Prix of the season was the San Marino race. Herbert got another finish under his belt with 8th while Zanardi retired due to a spectacular engine fire.
The Spanish Grand Prix saw a double retirement, while Monaco gave Zanardi 7th.
Canada saw Herbert 10th and Zanardi 11th, though development would soon see Lotus back near the front.

The French Grand Prix gave a double retirement, but there was much optimism for the British Grand Prix.
Herbert was back in the Top 10 in qualifying and in the race he was the top Briton in 4th place, though less than a second behind Patrese in 3rd.

The following German Grand Prix gave Lotus a 10th place, but otherwise there was nothing significant until the Belgian Grand Prix.
In Practice, Zanardi crashed heavily at the notorious Eau Rouge corner when the active suspension failed. His season was now over.
Herbert bravely carried on and was rewarded with 5th place in the race.

Pedro Lamy took over the Lotus No. 11 for the rest of the season, starting with Italian Grand Prix.
The Portuguese driver finished 11th in his first race and also 13th in the Japanese Grand Prix.
Herbert meanwhile finished 11th in Japan and ended the season 9th in the Drivers Championship.
Team Lotus were equal 6th in the Constructors Championship, with Zanardi equal 20th in the Driver Standings.

Lotus had much reason to be optimistic for 1994. They had signed a contract for the powerful and reliable Mugen-Honda engine.
Also the outlawing of driver aids meant that they wouldn�t have to spend money on the troublesome Active Suspension that had caused many 1993 retirements.

Herbert and Lamy stayed on as the driver line-up, with Zanardi now test/reserve driver.
The 107 continued for the time being, now in C specification until the new Type 109 was ready.

Qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix was rather disappointing with Herbert 21st and Lamy 24th.
The race proved to be altogether different with Herbert 7th and Lamy 10th, only Team Lotus had two cars finish.

If there was any thought that Brazilian qualifying was a one-off. The grid positions were even more humble for the Pacific Grand Prix with Herbert 23rd and Lamy 24th.
The race was again better with Herbert 7th and Lamy 8th, again agonisingly just out of the points.

The tragic San Marino Grand Prix qualifying proved to be slightly better for Lotus with Herbert 20th and Lamy 22nd.
In the race, Lamy collided with a stalled JJ Lehto on the starting grid. One of the Lotus� wheels flew high into the air and landed amongst the spectators, injuring 3 and sadly killing a 28-year-old.
The race reached its meaningless conclusion with Herbert finishing 10th.

Senna was dead, Ratzenberger was dead and Barrichello was injured, but the Championship continued, on to Monaco.

Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix gave Lotus their best grid positions of 1994 up to that point with Herbert 16th and Lamy 20th.
The race saw Herbert post his first retirement of the season 10 laps form the end when running in the Top 8.
Lamy finished, but 5 laps down in 11th and last place.

Prior to the Spanish Grand Prix, Pedro Lamy was testing his Lotus at Silverstone and was involved in a horrific crash when the car failed to take the Abbey curve.
The car spun across the track and hit the top of an outer wall before coming to rest in a spectator exit tunnel that would be used during the Grand Prix.
Lamy fractured both knees and injured his wrist thumb and head, which put him out for the rest of 1994.

The race-fit Alessandro Zanardi, now recovered from his Belgian shunt took his place.
Herbert was now using the new Type 109, but Zanardi had to make do with the 107C, the second 109 being involved in the Lamy accident.

Zanardi qualified 23rd and ran conservatively to 9th place. He was also 23rd on the grid in the following Canadian Grand Prix, though with a much more competitive time.
The last race for the 107 saw Zanardi retire with engine problems 7 laps from the end.

In the future, two 109�s would be used, so bringing and end to the career of a car that had brought Team Lotus back from the brink.