There are two Lotus teams in Formula One and they're not playing nice with each other. Team Lotus has been racing in F1 since the 2010 season and is backed by Tony Fernandes and the Malaysian Government. Group Lotus, on the other hand, sponsors the Renault F1 team and is generally accepted as the "real" Lotus, since it is associated with Lotus Cars and received the blessing of the Chapman Family. Neither team really has a link to the original Lotus F1 team that last ran in 1994.
As you can guess, both teams have been disputing who actually has the right to the Lotus name in F1. Today, Group Lotus won a court battle and was awarded damages from Team Lotus, however, Team Lotus has retained the right to race under its existing name.
Confused? So are we, but in all likelihood, this means that both teams will finish the 2011 season as is. Next season, Team Lotus will probably give up its name and adopt the Caterham name, since Fernandes recently acquired Caterham Cars -- the company that produces the Seven, a replica of the (you guessed it) Lotus Seven. We doubt Team Caterham will fare any better in F1, since Team Lotus cars are essentially moving chicanes this season and haven't scored a single point. The Lotus Renault team, by contrast, has been showing promise, ranking fourth in the championship with 46 points.
It's likely that both Lotus teams will keep their lawyers on speed dial, but for the time being, it looks like Group Lotus/Renault has gained the upper hand. Appeals are forthcoming on both sides.
carlisimo says:
10:16 AM, 05/27/11
I’m a bit disappointed; Team Lotus initially looked to have the better claim, and they’ve won more respect than Group Lotus. They’ve started a totally new team and of the three new teams it’s clearly the best. Group Lotus simply inherited a good, relatively high-budget team (Renault).
standingwave says:
11:07 AM, 05/27/11
Forget turning… Colin Chapman is now doing cartwheels in his grave.
blueprint1 says:
10:56 AM, 05/28/11
Btw, the Catheram can't really be called a replica, as Catheram bought the tooling and rights to the 7 from Lotus in the Chapman days. It's the real thing, slowly evolving from the original like the 911 did.
stovt001 says:
05:38 PM, 05/31/11
+1 to blueprint.
And I side with Team Lotus just because Dany Bahar is evil incarnate and anything he does regarding Lotus is simply wrong.
stovt001 says:
05:39 PM, 05/31/11
And to be fair HRT is really the rolling chicane this season. Team Lotus isn't fast but they're not the worst.