Lotus buys Renault F1

[ianbiz]

Its official:
http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/65...y-Renault-Team
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88616

[E90SLAM]

Looks nice....the good old classic scheme....

But I wonder will Lotus Racing (current team) is still able to use the name? I believe its still in court case.

Interesting if we see the black-gold Lotus and Green-White Lotus race together....

[escobar929]

i like the color scheme as well, I too wonder what will happen to Lotus Racing, maybe they will be the Toro Rosso of Lotus

[MontegoblueE92]

The current Lotus will be called Team Lotus.

This team will be called Renault next year. They have to keep their name the same after entering or they lose all their constructor's championship money.

[FStop7]

Renaultus

They have to keep their name the same after entering or they lose all their constructor's championship money.

Just curious, but does that mean Mercedes GP lost all of Brawn GP's championship money when they changed the name?

[BTM]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Renaultus



Just curious, but does that mean Mercedes GP lost all of Brawn GP's championship money when they changed the name?

I think they did...but when your Mercedes it's not exactly a big deal...

[MontegoblueE92]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Renaultus



Just curious, but does that mean Mercedes GP lost all of Brawn GP's championship money when they changed the name?

Originally Posted by BTM

I think they did...but when your Mercedes it's not exactly a big deal...

Winning the WCC is a huge amount of money. If you think that all 12 teams are splitting ~$1,000,000,000, minus Ferrari's preliminary cut. After that, the amount of money a team earns is directly related to their position on the Constructor's table.

But no they did not lose their money. Brawn had already entered the next season as Mercedes GP. BMW, on the other hand, hadn't solved their offseason debacle in time. So when Peter Sauber finally purchased the team back, it was too late to make a name change without losing the money. That's why his team was called BMW Sauber still. Next season it will change to Sauber. Same with Renault, they'll have to wait until 2012 to make a name change.

[BTM]

Yea it's a huge amount of money but for a monolithic company like mercedes forgoing a few hundred million is a pretty viable endeavor. Wasn't aware they were able to keep it, good planning

[Bartman619]

nice to see the JPS (John Player Special) colors again....not get ride of that red Total advert.

[BTM]

My personal favorite was the gold leaf livery (which was also the first use of advertisement on a car in F1 if memory serves...which it often doesn't lol)

[MontegoblueE92]

You guys seen the conceptual Team Lotus design?

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by MontegoblueE92

You guys seen the conceptual Team Lotus design?

So for races like Korean GP this year...when the field is getting dark...they might be able to sneak up behind someone...given if they are fast enough...

matte black...batmobile....

[E90SLAM]

IMO...I think Team Lotus (the one Tony Fernandez owns) should keep the green and yellow color...and Lotus Renault GP will use the black/gold color...

btw...does anyone see the yellow warning triangle on Team Lotus car? Seems like they're dedicated to use KERS next year....

[MontegoblueE92]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

btw...does anyone see the yellow warning triangle on Team Lotus car? Seems like they're dedicated to use KERS next year....

From http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=369728:

"We will not use KERS next year and we have good reasons for this decision," team boss Tony Fernandes is quoted

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by MontegoblueE92

From http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=369728:

still far from season opening...just an observation from the Yellow Caution Triangle....
Plus the news was back in May...we'll see....

But I do wish both Lotus teams will be different classic lotus color schemes....

[MontegoblueE92]

Here's one from a week ago:

“We will have the adjustable rear wing but not KERS for the start of the season - it's in development - really because of engineering resource,” argued Gascoyne.

“Over one lap, it's still not a big plus for its effort, involvement and negatives. Strategically off the start and in races, then yes. But at the start of the year, KERS is not going to be the thing that gives us the step up,” added the former Toyota and Force India technical, suggesting that focusing on the aerodynamic package for 2011 is much more important than building KERS.

“It's all the other things, and we've taken the choice to concentrate on all those because if we don't get them right, KERS isn't going to make a difference.”

Source: http://www.autoevolution.com/news/lo...011-27593.html

[ianbiz]

I wish they would allow tobacco advertising. A black and gold lotus with JPS would be badass.