Lotus dispute ‘embarrassing and surreal’ – Jarno Trulli
The Lotus driver, Jarno Trulli sees the on-going ‘Lotus’ name dispute "embarrassing and surreal" for Formula One.
While talking to the media earlier today, the driver admitted it was sad to see two major teams of the sport fighting over the team name. Trulli believes that this is not only embarrassing for both the teams, but is also damaging the legacy of the legendary
team ‘Lotus Racing’.
Tony Fernandes launched his team under the name of ‘Lotus’ at the start of the 2010 season. However, near the end of the season, as he announced to continue with the same title for another season, the car manufacturing company Group Lotus proclaimed to
own all the rights for the name. It also showed its desire to enter the sport with the same name for the upcoming season.
Now, around a month back, Group Lotus signed a deal with the RenaultF1Team, becoming the title sponsor of the French squad renaming it as, Lotus Renault GP. With this deal, the 2011 deal is ready to hold two teams with the same name until the court gives
its verdict.
When last year’s Lotus driver, Trulli was asked about how he sees the entire issue, he proclaimed it to be very confusing and annoying for the Lotus fans. "Which is the real one? We don't know, it's embarrassing, surreal," he stated.
The veteran of 238 Grands Prix sees the entire matter as an unimpressive story of Formula One history. Along with many of the other analysts and Formula One experts, he is unsure regarding who deserves the title more. He thinks that apparently both the groups
seem equally right in their stance and are also equally adamant to continue with the same name.
However, one relief for the Louts fans is that the dispute for the car-livery got resolved between the two teams rather peacefully. At the end of last season, both teams showed interest in painting their next year’s car with the iconic ‘Black and Gold’,
one of the most popular combinations in the sport. These colours were used by the former Lotus Racing team, and gained a lot of popularity because the great Ayrton Senna drove in a similarly painted car. Although, Fernandes expressed his desire for the colours,
he eventually gave up without much dispute and decided to enter the next season’s grid with a green and yellow car.
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