Group Lotus aims to be more than a title sponsor
Group Lotus has been all over the news since the past couple of days in the Formula 1 world and now it seems that they are just enjoying this moment and they don’t want to drain the level of attention that they have gained in the past couple of weeks.
The sponsor left its initial team “Lotus” for 2011 but Team Lotus has the rights to use the name Lotus in their team. However, Group Lotus decided to work with Renault for the 2011 Formula 1 season and as a result, the team changed its name to Lotus Renault
GP.
It is going to be quite entertaining to see how the two “Lotuses” battle against each other as Team Lotus hopes to improve next year with the help of their two experienced drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli. Proton owned Group Lotus bought Renault’s
shares and “Lotus” in the team’s official name is more like a sponsor. Like Vodafone McLaren or Scuderia Ferrari etc.
On the other hand, Team Lotus will be using Renault engines for 2011 and this whole story is getting more confusing as each day passes by.
Recently, Group Lotus revealed that they want to be more than just a title sponsor and shareholder. That is how every company begins and their CEO Dany Bahar’s latest statement hints that the shareholders hope to take full control of the team in the next
few years or so.
“Our way of doing things means that at the end of the project we would like to control it ourselves. It’s the same route – it starts somewhere and then you slowly take control. We would not be in for the long-term just to be a sponsor on the team,” the former
Ferrari employee told the Media.
However, Lotus is carrying out some experiments and according to reports the team is making great progress, hoping for better results in 2011. The company’s CEO made it clear that they have the resources and power to come up with the best possible package
for their Formula 1 car next season.
“We would not commit without backing from shareholders, banks and investors. If we didn’t it would be foolish to come up with ambitious plans like this,” Bahar assured.
Other than that, it would be interesting to see two Lotus cars on the grid battling out against each other and the rest of the cars for the top spot.
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