Lotus poised to return to F1

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Source: AutoCar

Lotus is poised to return to F1, backed by a consortium led by the Malaysian government.

The team would takeover BMW Sauber, and be backed by Malaysian oil giant Petronas and Lotus, which is owned by Malaysia's national car maker Proton.

The push for the return of the Lotus name in F1 could also be boosted by the arrival of former Ferrari brand guru Dany Bahar as the company's new CEO, although it is believed his appointment at the current time is coincidental and not linked to the F1 plans.

Lotus's ambitions are being spearheaded by respected technical chief Mike Gascoyne, formerly of Renault and Toyota, whose original Lotus team linked with the Litespeed operation were widely talked about earlier this year.

Malaysia's Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek refused to deny talk that the government is looking at its involvement in the team when speaking to local media.

"Nothing has been finalised and there's nothing to comment," he told the Malay Mail. "I'm not confirming, neither am I saying otherwise."

Shabery also refused to deny that an announcement about the team's plans was scheduled to be made after the Singapore Grand Prix later this month by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

He said: "Let's wait for the PM to make the announcement. Who knows what will happen after the Singapore GP."

The FIA is currently evaluating the entries for the 13th team in F1, with an announcement expected in the next few weeks.
 
I don't think they've got much to go on. The FIA is assessing the teams from the shortlist of leftover teams, so unless the Malaysians have taken control of the Litespeed-Lotus arrangement, they haven't got anything.
 
Do you race?
I don't think they've got much to go on. The FIA is assessing the teams from the shortlist of leftover teams, so unless the Malaysians have taken control of the Litespeed-Lotus arrangement, they haven't got anything.
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It sounds like they have. Seeing as Gascoyne is mentioned.

ROAD_DOGG33J
What happened to that team that wanted to use the Lotus name?
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Litespeed. They are mentioned in the article and were going to have their chassis designed by Mike Gascoyne.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
What happened to that team that wanted to use the Lotus name?
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Pacific?

prmon01.gif


http://www.f1rejects.com/teams/pacific/profile.html
 
Hoorah! We finally have the big 4 in F1 again :cheers:

And before people start saying "its not the same team without Colin Chapman", well that would be rather impossible wouldn't it? He unfortunatly suffers from a severe case of being dead. Just as much as Bruce McLaren doesn't have anything to do with McLaren nowadays. Or Enzo Ferrari.
Its a legendary name and its great to see it back. I hope we finally see some green cars on the grid, I've missed the Jaguars and there are too many of the same colour at the moment (blue or white or red).
 
BMW have been promised a special fourteenth place on the grid if the other teams agree to it. They've punlically annouced that they have a buyer: Swiss-German outfit QADBAK Investments. But no matter how you say it - "Sauber QADBAK" or "QADBAK Sauber" - it doesn't roll off the tongue. I haven't heard of them, but they apparently have ties to the Middle East (but the team would be headed by a Swiss national named Lionel Fischer) and apparently purchased Notts County FC.
 
I'll just refer to them as Sauber, I don't refer to Williams as "AT&T Williams" same for "Marlboro Scuderia Ferrari" or "Vodafone McLaren Mercedes".

I hope they do make it though, and I would love to have 28 cars on the grid! There is a lot of talent out there and 8 more drivers is certainly welcome! Especially seeing how close all the current teams are.

Hmm, now I see some nice pairings...Bruno Senna to Lotus? :sly:
 
Well, their entrance is conditional: they'll only get the fourteenth place if all te teams agree to it. I see no reason why that shouldn't happen, unless it means an extra slice has to be cut from the television rights. But I don't think many teams would object to it. If they get shot down, the only way they'll make it is if somebody - maybe Renault - withdraws; Sauber will inherit the vacancy by default, but no new place will be opened up.

But I'm pretty confient we'll see them in 2010.
 
Ardius
I'll just refer to them as Sauber, I don't refer to Williams as "AT&T Williams" same for "Marlboro Scuderia Ferrari" or "Vodafone McLaren Mercedes".

I hope they do make it though, and I would love to have 28 cars on the grid! There is a lot of talent out there and 8 more drivers is certainly welcome! Especially seeing how close all the current teams are.

Hmm, now I see some nice pairings...Bruno Senna to Lotus? :sly:
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Yeah, ok I won't mention ACBC but is the Lotus Cars company envoved in this? If not, they're not Lotus, just a new team that bought the rights to a famous name.

Heritage matters and the current Renault was once Toleman, as the current Force India was once Jordan.
 
Hun200kmh
Yeah, ok I won't mention ACBC but is the Lotus Cars company envoved in this? If not, they're not Lotus, just a new team that bought the rights to a famous name.

Heritage matters and the current Renault was once Toleman, as the current Force India was once Jordan.
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Read the article, Lotus Cars is owned by Proton who are in turn backed by the Malaysian government.

But...Team Lotus and Lotus Cars are two seperate entities and the heritage actually has nothing to do with Lotus Cars. (the rights to the F1 team name "Team Lotus" have been owned by David Hunt since 1994, and were recently sold to Litespeed F3 for this entry).

When the team involved Litespeed F3, it did actually include some of the ex-Lotus staff before Team Lotus collapsed in 1994. I don't know if it still does now with all this Malaysian stuff, but really its always going to be "just a name". If the team have continued since 1994, it would still be "just a name" because the people involved are obviously going to change.

McLaren doesn't include any of its original staff anymore. Should it still be called McLaren?
I realise that the difference is that Team Lotus hasn't evolved into this form, its been bought. But it really doesn't matter to me. Its just a name and I'd rather the Lotus name be taken forward by a well funded, professional outfit like this than the failure that was the Pacific team.

I think of this as a new start for the name rather than a direct continuation. A chance to revive the name to glory rather than a continuation of the rubbish backender team they became before their demise.
 
Fair enough. For what its worth, the choice was between leaving the Lotus name dead forever like the Cooper, Tyrrell or Brabham names or reviving it this way.

Why is it that this kind of critcism only comes for independent teams? When Honda and Renault returned, no one criticised them for not being the original teams. Why is this different?
In fact, the original and current Renault teams have in fact raced against each other!
 
Ardius
He unfortunatly suffers from a severe case of being dead.
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Instead of what...suffering from a light case of "being dead"?

Any way...I don't think Chapman could do a modern F1 car. Try to imagine a steering wheel made by him. It would have...paddle shifters, radio button and drink button. Simple.
 
What makes you think that? He was constantly the inventor.....if anything he would have brought all those electronic gizmos in earlier! He would have done anything to be successful, like any team principal at the time.

His problem was that he sometimes tried to be too clever and it compromised the reliability of his cars.
 

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