F1 News
Date: 23/September/2011
Team Lotus looks set for a new name and premises for the 2012 F1 season, but will always keep its spiritual home in Norfolk.
That was the pledge given by Group CEO Riad Asmat in Singapore on Friday, when he admitted that the team is likely to acquire a presence in the UK's Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire 'Motorsport Belt'.
Having enjoyed legendary success under the leadership of founder Colin Chapman in the 60s and 70s, the Lotus name disappeared from Formula One in the mid-1990s.
It returned in 2010, thanks to popular Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, who obtained a licence from the Malaysian-owned Group Lotus for an F1 entry under the moniker 'Lotus Racing'.
But the relationship quickly soured and the canny Fernandes, founder of Air Asia, then purchased the similar 'Team Lotus' name for 2011, when Group Lotus began title sponsorship of the rival Renault team!
Having two teams bearing the name Lotus was clearly undesirable, but both sides refused to give in and court action only confirmed they could each continue using their names in F1.
Whilst it is embarrassing for Group Lotus to not have total control of the Lotus name, Fernandes is more than aware that his team is now effectively providing millions of dollars of free branding for Group Lotus (which builds the Lotus road cars).
His solution seemed clear when he purchased Caterham Cars earlier this year. Caterham - a small British sportscar manufacturer - and Lotus have historical links, but are two completely separate brands.
By changing Team Lotus for Team Caterham (or similar) for 2012, Fernandes would have exclusive use of his F1 name, without throwing away all of the effort he has made in reviving the Team Lotus heritage.
That included being based in Norfolk, the traditional home of Lotus. Asmat explained that the present team HQ will continue, but that some form of additional premises will be found closer to the 'Motorsport Belt'.
"Our home is in Norfolk, in Norwich in Hingham, and that is, for sure, never going to change," he said. "That will be maintained as one of our parts, but as a team that is growing and progressing we need to look at how to get more efficiencies out of the team and one of the main areas is to be in the motorsport belt of the UK. It is something we are looking into and when the time is right we will make the necessary announcement. But for sure Hingham is our home."
The name change might sound simpler, but F1 identities are difficult to modify without sacrificing financial perks gained over past seasons - unless there is unanimous permission from other teams.
Perhaps for that reason, Asmat was coy on what his team would be called in the future.
"No decision as yet," he said. "We are still Team Lotus as you can see, but as my shareholders have mentioned we are open to anything and we will see how it progresses from this point.
"I guess there is a process that we all have to go through [to change the name] but as I highlighted, it is a process that we will undertake if and when the decision is made."
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