Lotus V Team Lotus

[HandyNZL 1]

It's Oh-Fish-Al.....Renault is now Lotus, and Lotus is now, um, er, um.......not sure........

This is a bit of a mess, but certainly F1. I can see Renault being an engine supplier again, with 2013 marking the end of "Renault" the manufacturer. Anyways, for now, we have a picture of a pretty car, and the usual PR bull about this that and the other thing.

Are we going to support the new, new Lotus, or shall we continue to support the old, new Lotus, or are neither Louts at all, and we all feel this is just a tad surreal.

Any ways, the livery looks sexy.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

well, I love the livery....

[Medilloni 6]

Danny Bahar (Group Lotus) is quite stupid - at least Team Lotus had the good grace to 'buy the history' and use it tastefully - by not claiming to be the old team, but trying to capture and preserve the brand (and yes, clever marketing too!). Group Lotus hijacking, and blatently piggy-backing on Team Lotus achievements is idiotic, especially considering Fernandes offer to Proton to have the cheapest F1 exposure they'd ever get.

[monza gorilla 1]

I am apoplectic. Which is unusual.

[maure 1]

I am apoplectic. Which is unusual.

If it was literal and usual, well,... it would explain a lot of nothing.

[DOF_power 0]

The real died in 94-95.

[Rainmaster 7]

I think the Team Lotus we have already has the better claim to use the brand, as Group Lotus never had any issue with them using the name until they decided that they wanted a piece of the Lotus (brand) in F1 cake (no doubt encouraged by the efforts of the existing team). So yeah, piggy-backing. Cheeky.

Anyway, if they don't have the intelligence between them to solve it before the season, they'll both suffer and the courts will have to decide.

[monza gorilla 1]

The root of the problem is that canny man Chapman, splitting the road and race businesses........

[JHS 1]

This once again proves those involved in F1 are good with aerodynamics but rubbish when it comes to common sense.

I think Fernandes is in the wrong here. They ARE NOT Lotus. I could say my name's Michael Schumacher if I wanted, expect that I'm James.

It was great to have the name back, but really, I found it quite tragic to see a name like Lotus failing to get out of Q1, clearly they couldn't deliver a good enough car to suit the name.

Why the real Lotus couldn't just have invested in Fernandes' team, I have no idea. Would've made things a whole lot easier.

We have two Red Bulls I guess, with Toro Rosso, so now we have 2 Lotuses.

[monza gorilla 1]

Ah, but there's the rub. Neither of them are the real Lotus. But, Mr Fernandes at least went to the trouble of buying the rights to the defunct racing team. So I'd plump for the guys who are racing for racings sake and not Mr Polyester Pants Bahahar.

You could say, I suppose, that McLaren aren't the real McLaren. They're Project 4, headed up by a grease monkey called Ron Dennis. Renault are Toleman. Red Bull are Stewart. Mercedes are Tyrrell, if you go far enough back. And so on. So, what's in a name?

[teddydub 0]

I think Fernandes is in the wrong here.

We have two Red Bulls I guess, with Toro Rosso, so now we have 2 Lotuses.

Unfortunately, provided Hunt really was the proprietor of Lotus Racing which if my memory still serves me right he was, Fernandes is not in the wrong. Feelings for the "glorious" Lotus name being let down by his company have zero weight in this. He very legally bought a company name and therefore has every right to use it. That's why he bought it. Of course we would have to look into the actual contracts -what was sold to Hunt at the time and what he sold to Fernandes as well as what was sold to Proton- to better understand which we can't.

Yes the issue could have been resolved with 4 cars on the grid, but the funny thing in this case is that they would all four be Lotus-Renaults' !!! If Proton was smart they would let it be but I doubt Mr.E will allow this. Otherwise watch McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes sell their textiles/watch/etc companies/brand names to someone who will create new teams around those names... Watch the cigarette brands come right back in using the same loophole (Marlboro jeans, Camel sunglasses, etc).

Anyways, Fernandes cannot be wrong, he's the guy who gets Branson to wear a skirt. That makes him right in my book haha!

Lotus I couldn't really care what happens, what I really wait for is the battle which will follow as Fernandes cannot claim his 2010 monies and 10th position in the championship for 2011 benefits...

[JHS 1]

Ah, but there's the rub. Neither of them are the real Lotus. But, Mr Fernandes at least went to the trouble of buying the rights to the defunct racing team. So I'd plump for the guys who are racing for racings sake and not Mr Polyester Pants Bahahar.

You could say, I suppose, that McLaren aren't the real McLaren. They're Project 4, headed up by a grease monkey called Ron Dennis. Renault are Toleman. Red Bull are Stewart. Mercedes are Tyrrell, if you go far enough back. And so on. So, what's in a name?

The Lotus investing in Renault are nearer the real Lotus than the other though, they have the genuine logo on the nose.

Unfortunately, provided Hunt really was the proprietor of Lotus Racing which if my memory still serves me right he was, Fernandes is not in the wrong. Feelings for the "glorious" Lotus name being let down by his company have zero weight in this. He very legally bought a company name and therefore has every right to use it. That's why he bought it. Of course we would have to look into the actual contracts -what was sold to Hunt at the time and what he sold to Fernandes as well as what was sold to Proton- to better understand which we can't.

Yes the issue could have been resolved with 4 cars on the grid, but the funny thing in this case is that they would all four be Lotus-Renaults' !!! If Proton was smart they would let it be but I doubt Mr.E will allow this. Otherwise watch McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes sell their textiles/watch/etc companies/brand names to someone who will create new teams around those names... Watch the cigarette brands come right back in using the same loophole (Marlboro jeans, Camel sunglasses, etc).

Anyways, Fernandes cannot be wrong, he's the guy who gets Branson to wear a skirt. That makes him right in my book haha!

Lotus I couldn't really care what happens, what I really wait for is the battle which will follow as Fernandes cannot claim his 2010 monies and 10th position in the championship for 2011 benefits...

I take my hat of to Fernandes through what he's done. Creating an F1 team with such little resources and then being the best of them is highly commendable. But, and it's a big but, they are not the real, modern day Lotus. They are not the ones making road cars right now, etc. As I've said, they don't have the original Lotus logo. In my view, they are NOT Lotus. They are 1Malaysia, using the name Lotus.

Fernandes is too busy pretending to be Chapman to remember that they aren't the real Lotus, and it doesn't take much just use a bit of common sense and accept it how it is. Using someone else's name, it's unoriginal. They should create their own racing team, with their own name and history. I guess when Red Bull bought Jaguar they could have kept the Jaguar moniker in some way if they'd wished too, indeed the Jaguar name is another very evocative name in the world of racing, but they didn't. To borrow lyrics from a well known song, they did it their way.

I can't see why they choose the Lotus name though. Maybe it is simply the name; maybe they thought they'd have a greater chance of getting to F1 if they used Lotus and not 1Malaysia or Air Asia Grand Prix or whatever. To me it backfired on them. Yes, they were a new team, but having a name like Lotus surely carries a great deal of responsibility and pressure to perform that a team who's just establishing themselves doesn't really need. It worked on the PR and marketing side, but elsewhere it was just unnecessary pressure.

[Delta 0]

Although my personal support goes to the team that are in it for the racing, legally it seems to me that Tony Fernandes does not own the rights to the Team Lotus name. That car certainly is sexy though

[JHS 1]

'nother image:

[Port-A-Loo 0]

I like the livery, especially in the face of 1Malaysia saying their car would be black and gold. Since Lotus Cars use the green and yellow in their IndyCar team, I imagine they had intended to do that in F1, but only made it black/gold to **** 1Malaysia off. Then again, I may just be giving them too much credit.

To be honest, we'll have two Loti for a while, and then none in a short period. 1Malaysia will give in and Lotus Cars will realize pretty quickly that their foreign investments don't exist and trying to do F1, IndyCar (as a major supplier of aerokits and a badger of engines), Le Mans, GT, and junior formula was an awful idea. Hate to be cynical but there's no way they have any money to be doing this when they sell, what, 2000 units per year? It seems shady to me. Next thing you'll know George Gillett and a Nigerian prince with a Yahoo freemail account will own the team.

See any Russian sponsors on the car? Vitaly?

[Jean Todt 4]

colours are damn cool....wonder how it would look on a race track.....

[JHS 1]

colours are damn cool....wonder how it would look on a race track.....

Gold and black with four wheels.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

[maure 1]

Shinny colors... funny bunch.

The important news here that Renault is basically out.

[Kopite Girl 0]

A far, far, far cry from the glorious days of Clark/Chapman.

Sad when you really think about it. And i'd love it if the cars were less bulky and more streamlined. That's just me though.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

triple post sowwy

[BradSpeedMan 6]

what the hell happened...let's try again

[BradSpeedMan 6]

oh man, look at this baby, hope they go wit it

[dribbler 6]

Painted myself black and changed my name to Stevee Hendrix. I aint got no soul and I still play sh!t.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Painted myself black and changed my name to Stevee Hendrix. I aint got no soul and I still play sh!t.

do you have any recordings btw, would like to hear you playing white soul brotha

[JHS 1]

oh man, look at this baby, hope they go wit it

That is great, although 4 black and gold cars? No thanks.

Gascoyne actually did a quick poll on his Twitter yesterday asking fans what colour they'd like to see Team Lotus run in. Remaining in yellow and green was the run away winner.

I find it funny people are like "this still isn't the real Lotus"....well, you could say that about ANY modern car manufacturer I guess. This one's a whole lot more genuine than the one we've had this year.