The Lotus F1 team has elected to dodge the crucial first pre-season test in Jerez.
The Enstone team says that it plans to launch the car after the scheduled test in Spain later this month and will instead roll the car out in time for the Bahrain test on February 19.
There remains the nose crash test for Lotus to pass after it has already passed some of the compulsory FIA crash tests.
Chassis fittings have been completed for incumbent Romain Grosjean and incoming Williams refugee Pastor Maldonado.
Lotus remains upbeat about its chances with the new E22 chassis ahead of the sweeping new engine and technical changes for 2014.
F1 will usher in 1.6litre turbo-charged V6 engines this season, hooked up to new eight-speed gearboxes, which will be sealed for the year.
There will be two types of energy recovery systems; one being similar to KERS which harvests braking energy while the second system will harvest heat from waste gases from the turbo.
