Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

[Greig]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88616

By Jonathan Noble Wednesday, December 8th 2010, 09:00 GMT

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

As AUTOSPORT exclusively revealed in October, Renault has revised its F1 strategy by selling the stake it had in its F1 team back to co-owners Genii Capital and will now focus on being just an engine supplier.

That move has allowed Genii to sell a stake to Group Lotus - which has led to a renaming of the outfit and a move for the team's colours to be in iconic black and gold next year.

The title sponsorship deal with Group Lotus is due to run until the end of the 2017 season, with Renault committing to supply engines to the team for a number of years.

Gerard Lopez, chairman of Renault F1 Team, said about the deal: "We are delighted that we can now go public with the news that we will be racing as Lotus Renault GP in 2011.

"It is extremely exciting to begin a new era for the team in partnership with Group Lotus, and we will continue to enjoy a strong relationship with Renault over the coming seasons. It is a tribute to the excellent work this year by the team in Enstone that we have been able to attract both major sponsorship and new investment for a very bright future."

The announcement of Group Lotus' plans for 2011 comes despite Tony Fernandes pushing on with his plans to race as Team Lotus next year - with his outfit now also having Renault engines and set to run in black and gold colours.

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, who has been pushing aggressively for his company's return to motorsport, added: "I can think of no better platform for automotive brand communications than motorsport and F1 is the very pinnacle of open-wheel racing.

"We're well aware that there has been a lot of controversy around the usage of our brand in F1 and I'm delighted to be able to formally clarify our position once and for all: we are Lotus and we are back."

[scuderiafan]

Here, by the way, they should say to that team, that they have to take away that livery, as it's sponsoring John Player tabacco just as much as our Barcode was.

It looks amazing, but i guess one rule for Ferrari, another rule for others. :roll

[Tifosi]

Lotus Renault GP. That doesn't sound like a conglomerate at all does it? :roll Looks like Group Lotus just want better marketing of the name tbh. I prefer what Team Lotus are attempting to do tbh.

[Ste]

http://www.auto123.com/ArtImages/125548/f1-lotus-renault-2011-inlin.jpg

[Katu]

it looks better than this years Renault

[DonXabi]

Here, by the way, they should say to that team, that they have to take away that livery, as it's sponsoring John Player tabacco just as much as our Barcode was.

It looks amazing, but i guess one rule for Ferrari, another rule for others. :roll

Not being a smoker...but do JPS cigarettes still exist? Only interested in an F1-relevant position as it was a legendary brand and colour scheme..........

[Nova]

So reno will simply be an engine supplier? Or will there still be an official Reno F1 team? Doesnt say anything about that,
so I imagine there will still be the factory F1 team?? I may be slow, but at least Im used to it...

[Agron]

http://www.auto123.com/ArtImages/125548/f1-lotus-renault-2011-inlin.jpgGorgeous. It makes you wonder if they were preparing the public for this change with this years livery.

[Chris]

http://www.auto123.com/ArtImages/125548/f1-lotus-renault-2011-inlin.jpg


Looks Fantastic:-E

[Tifosi]

So reno will simply be an engine supplier? Or will there still be an official Reno F1 team? Doesnt say anything about that,
so I imagine there will still be the factory F1 team?? I may be slow, but at least Im used to it...


"In addition to a 25% stake in the team, which is open ended, Lotus will be the title sponsor until at least 2017 (http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/12/group-lotus-confirms-buy-in-to-renault-f1-team/)." Genii Capital still own the other 75%.

So it's basically this years Renault with a deal to get the word LOTUS as big as possible on the car for 6 years as principal sponsor and a paint job to steal Tony Fernando's thunder.

They are currently trying to renaig on the deal they made to let Fernandes use the name and now they are trying to pinch his idea for the change of colour aswell.

Proton are clearly desperate to get their foot in F1's door asap, one assumes with a view to doing a Jaguar or a Honda (i.e. taking over a good team, buggering it up beyond all recognition and then giving in and selling it again :-D).

[scuderiafan]

Not being a smoker...but do JPS cigarettes still exist? Only interested in an F1-relevant position as it was a legendary brand and colour scheme..........

Well, i'm not a smoker, but i saw some packets in a newsagents the other day.

[Tifoso]

http://www.auto123.com/ArtImages/125548/f1-lotus-renault-2011-inlin.jpg

That car is gorgeous!

[Sianellen]

Not being a smoker...but do JPS cigarettes still exist? Only interested in an F1-relevant position as it was a legendary brand and colour scheme..........

Yup, my dad keeps them in buisness :xmasbiggrin:

[Raz]

funny, no one's making an issue out of the "subliminal" advertising for JPS hmmm...

[Tony]

So does Renault get rebranded as Lotus or is this change happening to team lotus... I'm confused....

[Ste]

So does Renault get rebranded as Lotus or is this change happening to team lotus... I'm confused....

Renault = Lotus Renault :-)

[Suzie]

The car looks lovely, I love the old JPS livery.
But the Lotus Renault and Renault Lotus thing makes my head hurt.

[Tifosi]

So does Renault get rebranded as Lotus or is this change happening to team lotus... I'm confused....

They have to keep the Renault tag cos that was the name on the submission for 2011 I believe.

[Ste]

They have to keep the Renault tag cos that was the name on the submission for 2011 I believe.

It's Renault engined so that's probably why. :-)

[Tony]

So 2 Lotus teams?

[Ste]

So 2 Lotus teams?

Yea, supposedly. :lol

[Tifosi]

It's Renault engined so that's probably why. :-)

Team Lotus will have a Renault engine too but they submitted as "Team Lotus". Maybe I dreamed that it had something to do with the official FIA submission, maybe not. :-)


Edit: Thought I read it somewhere. Andrew Benson's blog...


The cars produced by Lotus Renault will still be called Renaults - changing that would need the permission of all the other F1 teams.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9267715.stm

[Nova]

Thanks Tif..actually, this is kinda huge...

[RockyRaccoon]

So we have a team called Renault, owned by Genii Capital, sponsored by Lotus (and Lada?) painted in John Player Special colours (despite not being sponsored by them) called Lotus Renault?

[siberianlady]

Guess so and we also have a Team Lotus Renault- who also want to be black and gold..............confused? Guess we all are!

[Meiga]

http://www.auto123.com/ArtImages/125548/f1-lotus-renault-2011-inlin.jpg
For long-time Renault supporter like me, this livery is like a wish come true - a true Christmast gift! :xmassmile:

Now, if I could only get rid of those red bits... :pray

Anyhow, I will miss the 2010 hornet, and even the 2008 and 2009 parakeets! :lol

[Meiga]

Guess so and we also have a Team Lotus Renault- who also want to be black and gold..............confused? Guess we all are!

F1 cloning? :-P

[xpman]

do you think in 2013 they be useing there own engines since new rules 4 cylinder and turbo mean they have the capacity through proton to build engines all they do is get someone like giles simon to designe them an new engine . IMO would be great abd best if Lotus for 1st time in History go 100% all Lotus !!!
What is it about BLACK and GOLD make people go all ..... ??????????????????

[Hornet]

I think its the black. I used to be a fan of Minardi's black car :xmasbiggrin:

[Rob]

So 2 Lotus teams?

:xmasrolleyes: looks that way, we better get in on the act and snap up another team so we can have 2 teams and couple more team mates to help out in the races.

[scuderiafan]

:xmasrolleyes: looks that way, we better get in on the act and snap up another team so we can have 2 teams and couple more team mates to help out in the races.

They may be 2 lotus's but i don't think Tony Lotus would do Eric Lotus any favours.

[Nova]

Or we can field a 4 car team....talk about saving money.....

[Nick Singer]

"In addition to a 25% stake in the team, which is open ended, Lotus will be the title sponsor until at least 2017 (http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/12/group-lotus-confirms-buy-in-to-renault-f1-team/)." Genii Capital still own the other 75%.

So it's basically this years Renault with a deal to get the word LOTUS as big as possible on the car for 6 years as principal sponsor and a paint job to steal Tony Fernando's thunder.

They are currently trying to renaig on the deal they made to let Fernandes use the name and now they are trying to pinch his idea for the change of colour aswell.

Proton are clearly desperate to get their foot in F1's door asap, one assumes with a view to doing a Jaguar or a Honda (i.e. taking over a good team, buggering it up beyond all recognition and then giving in and selling it again :-D).

Nail on head there..

[Greig]

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i37/Ferrari27/1412f901.png

[RockyRaccoon]

:lol That gave me a smile!

[siberianlady]

What a mess!

[mandzipop]

Team Lotus Reanult will race in green and yellow, they are officially Lotus because the chassis name is Lotus
Lotus Renault GP will race in the old Lotus JPS style. They will still be known as Renault because the chassis will be the R31.

What happens after that is all down to the court cases next year.

I may be a Ferrari fan, but the JPS livery is my favourite of all time. :love

Although I think the guys at Renault are great and really nice and I'm glad their jobs are safe, I'm kinda with Team Lotus on this one. He owns the rights to the racing heritage which he has bought from David Hunt. Group Lotus are a car manufacturer who want to compete with Ferrari (:lol), plus Tony has Colin Chapman's cap.

[Tifosi]

Q. Have you been surprised by how much support you have received from fans in the days since the Lotus Renault announcement was made?

Tony Fernandes: In some ways, they have done us a bit of a favour. But you cannot win people overnight. This support we have got has been built up over a year. As I always say, things take time and things have to be done properly. You cannot parachute yourself into a brand. If you look at all my business strategy I have always believed in organic growth. It needs foundations and it needs strategy. You cannot parachute into something and say it is yours.


People are not stupid any more, and I think the reason for the support is the people see we are trying to do something the right way. I am not Colin Chapman, and I never will be. He is a legend and we are not going to emulate him – but everything he did is what we are doing. He built it from scratch and did not buy into anything. You have to have brands that people love. There is lots of competition out there and people have to have respect for what you do.
In many ways if Group Lotus had supported us it would have been better for our brand, but over the whole year they did nothing with us. They could have done so many things with us, which would have got people gravitating towards them.


How Dany Bahar can say we were not good enough, I don't know. He never came to see us, he never came to Hingham. He wants to create a Maranello – but Ferrari was not created overnight. Enzo Ferrari did not go and buy something, he built it from scratch. There was the car company and the racing team and they were together. But in their [Group Lotus] case they have Enstone, which is called Renault, and Hethel in Norfolk – while we are in Hingham with land to build a windtunnel and facility there. Unfortunately ego and power all comes into play and logic gets thrown out of the window.


I don't care how nostalgically cute the respray job on the ex-Renault is to be honest, Team Lotus have more in common with the spirit of Chapman's original venture than the Malaysian Government, Proton cars and some car industry bloke who's never been to a Grand Prix.

Group Lotus have one thing in mind currently and that is to get the Lotus Name associated with F1 in a high profile way so that they can expand their world markets and also market their recently announced new range of sports cars.

Team Lotus however want to improve their car by building a wind tunnel and improving their results as an aspiring and developing young team.

I know which one means more to me in racing terms, even if they do race at the back. :-)

[Chris]

Guess so and we also have a Team Lotus Renault- who also want to be black and gold..............confused? Guess we all are!

Yeah, could just imagine Legard next year when these 2 teams are racing each other:lol

[siberianlady]

Yeah, could just imagine Legard next year when these 2 teams are racing each other:lol

Heard Legard may just be getting the boot........
But- one team has rights to use Team Lotus but the other has rights to use Lotus...........oh dear this is a real mess.........and hope they sort it soon no matter who has black/gold or yellow/green..........

[Chris]

Heard Legard may just be getting the boot........But- one team has rights to use Team Lotus but the other has rights to use Lotus...........oh dear this is a real mess.........and hope they sort it soon no matter who has black/gold or yellow/green..........

Hope so.