The car, designed under the leadership of the team's technical director Mike Gascoyne, is the third car to be produced by the team and the first to carry the team's new name, following their renaming from Team Lotus at the end of 2011. The CT01 was the first car launched for the 2012 season, when an online launch initially planned for 26 January, was cancelled and the car was released a day earlier instead. The car was driven by Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov, who replaced Jarno Trulli after the first test at Jerez
The CT01 is the first car the team has built that features KERS. After a disappointing first half of the season where the team failed to score any points, the team announced before the 2012 British Grand Prix that several upgrades would be implemented for the next Grand Prix.