Team Lotus to appear on the 2011 grid in their “true colours”
Team Lotus is now thinking of dropping the idea of coming to the next year’s grid with a black and gold car.
This Wednesday saw the Group Lotus and the Renault F1 Team confirm their collaboration deal for next season due to which Team Lotus was forced to rethink on a lot of matters, including the car paint.
A few months back, the dispute of team name caught attention of everyone through media as the Group Lotus forbade Tony Fernandes, the team principal of Team Lotus for using the title ‘Lotus’ for the upcoming season. Following the issue the rumour came up
that Group Lotus actually wants to enter the sport itself, but not with the already running Team Lotus rather it wants a title sponsorship with the Renault F1 Team. Only yesterday the news was confirmed as the deal between the two got sealed and Renault officially
announced to run the 2011 season under the tile of 'Lotus Renault GP'.
Moreover, the issue of the team name is yet to be resolved as the case is already filed in the court and both Group Lotus and Fernandes want to the issue to be settled legally, once for all.
However, with the announcement of the new team name, it was also announced that the new livery for Lotus Renault GP’s next car, will be ‘black and gold’ instead of its current green and yellow. This combination is one of the most celebrated and legendary
for the sport, as it marks the historical car of Ayrton Senna.
While talking about the new livery, Riad Asmat, the chief executive of Group Lotus said, "I know the return to the track of the legendary black and gold will be met with universal support as it strikes such an emotional chord with fans around the world."
Although reluctantly, Team Lotus has now decided to stay with their current green and yellow paint that was used by the iconic Lotus team. The Malaysian’s outfit, however, accused Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar of "hijacking" their plans, as Fernandes said,
"We always had the idea and then it leaked out through the press. Three days later they (Team Lotus) were announcing they were doing black and gold.”
On the other hand, the team owner of Renault, Gerard Lopez said that actually it is Team Lotus that was trying to steal their idea but they had been quicker to announce it ahead of Fernandes. Lopez further added, "At the end of the day, I don't think there
will be any confusion as to which cars will be which in terms of position on the track."
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