In the highly competitive environment that is Formula One racing, things can get a bit messy. Rivalries. Crashes. Underhanded maneuvers. Team orders. Scandals. But identity crises? This is a new one. But that’s just what we’re looking at with Lotus. Because you see as we head into the 2011 championship, two teams are on the docket that both claim the same name and plan to fly the same colors.
We’re talking about Lotus-Renault, a legendary pairing but one with a serious split-personality disorder. For the past several months Group Lotus and its Malaysian parent company Proton have been embroiled in a naming rights dispute with Tony Fernandes, owner of what’s until now been called the Lotus Racing team. After licensing the name from Proton (and having nothing to do with the engineering firm and automaker we know as Lotus), Fernandes decided he didn’t need Proton’s permission anymore and renamed his outfit Team Lotus, commensurately switching from Cosworth to Renault engines and pledging to bring back the iconic Lotus black and gold livery.
After a brief exchange in the press, negotiations between the two Lotus parties went behind closed doors. Then reports surfaced that Group Lotus (the automaker) was considering buying Renault out of its stake in its own F1 team, reports that have now been confirmed by official announcement. Renault (the French automaker) has sold its stake in its F1 team to its investment partner Genii Capital, which has in turn sold part to Group Lotus. Retaining Renault engines, the team is therefor being rebranded Lotus Renault GP, and has released the image above showing what their car could look like under the new livery next season.
Thing is, Fernandes’ Team Lotus is contracted to use those same engines, and was planning on resurrecting that same iconic livery. Neither seems eager to relent, but there can only be one Lotus-Renault team, so something’s got to give before the season kicks off in Bahrain on March 13, so stay tuned.
