Yes, the French manufacturer, Renault, has finally exited the sport. Before the end of 2010, Renault F1 sold their remining 25% stake in the team to Genii Capital – thereby bidding Formula 1 goodbye. Renault have become the 4th car manufacturer to leave the sport in the last 2 years – following Honda, BMW and Toyota.

For some time, Renault had been hinting at an exit from Formula 1. High operating costs, followed by the Singapore crash-gate, meant that the team not only found it expensive to run a racing team, but also difficult to save their brand from being labeled as ‘cheaters’ globally (the pending court case is now sorted; Nelson Piquet Jr. was paid ‘damages,’ which indicates that Renault was in fact guilty as charged – no surprises there)! Which of these two factors precipatated their pullout is anyones guess, but their exit has left the grid with 4 Lotus racing cars.

How? Genii Capital (the company that bought Renault’s stake) have in-turn gone and sold that stake (rumoured to be between 25-50%) to Group Lotus. This deal also includes title sponsorship of the team till the 2017 season. So, that’s how we get Lotus-Renault GP. ‘Renault GP’ is registered under the Concorde Agreement, and if the new owners decide to let go of the name, they would also forfeit the historical earnings (TV revenue, etc.) of the team. Naturally, the new owners thought it to best to let ‘Renault’ remain in the name, rather than let go of millions of dollars!

The good news about this move is that Group Lotus – i.e. makers of the stunning British sports cars – is actually backed by the Malaysian Government, and rarely have we seen governments in racing teams before. Lotus was bought out by Malaysian car manufacturer, Proton, in 1994! And this latest investment is a step in the right direction to promote motorsports and F1 in Malaysia, and ironically also project ‘Lotus Renault GP’ as the national racing team of the country. Key figures in the Malaysian Government have already voiced their support for the newly formed team.



Lotus Renault GP will bring back the legendary black-and-gold livery that was flaunted by the Lotus team back in the 70s. Whether their performance will match that of their predecessors is yet to be seen.

So, the Lotus vs. Lotus story seems simple. A title sponsorship deal has lead to Lotus Renault GP – quite similar to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, only Vodafone has no stake in McLaren. Now, the next question is where does Team Lotus Racing (owned by Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes) come into the picture? And why again is it called Team Lotus?

Back in 2009, when the FIA opened up entry for new teams, Tony Fernandes won the right to field his own racing team starting with the 2010 season. The Air Asia mogul, also known to be a close friend of the Chapmans (the iconic Colin Chapman started Lotus F1), set about licensing the ‘Lotus’ brand in Formula 1. While Group Lotus earlier agreed to the licensing deal, a change in management meant that the deal was put on hold.

Dany Bahar, the Chief of Group Lotus, is a motorsport lover and believes that motorsport (and F1) is the perfect platform for Group Lotus to sell its road cars. Hence, the reluctance and denial to let Tony Fernandes use the brand name ‘Lotus.’ Group Lotus in fact is keen on building their own chassis, engine, gearboxes, etc. for their F1 team. However, this is easier to have on your wish list than to actually execute.

The Lotus vs. Lotus battle took a comical turn half-way through December, with both team owners taking pot shots at each other, and both teams announcing that they would use the black-and-gold livery. And, of course, neither budging whatsoever when it came to using the name ‘Lotus.’

My view is that it needn’t be so complicated. After all, we have had two Red Bull teams for a while now. And next season, we’ll have 2 Lotus racing teams. Why make such a fuss about it? Commentators have figured their way around the Scuderia Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing cars, let them deal with 4 Lotus racing cars as well. The only respite for them is that Tony Fernandes has announced that his Lotus team will stick to the green-and-yellow colours from 2010 (phew), which, by the way, is also a throwback to the legendary Lotus days of yore.

So, while the two Lotus teams were fighting, it was Renault who walked away with the prize, so to speak (when two cats fight, the mice will play)! Renault’s exit from the sport doesn’t mean that they won’t offer Formula1 services any longer. The Renault F1 division will continue to be very active in Formula 1. They’ll provide engines, gearboxes, and other engineering expertise to three teams next year – Red Bull Racing, Lotus Renault GP, and Team Lotus Racing. Here’s some more confusion for you to figure out – the teams will therefore be called Red Bull-Renault, Lotus-Renault, and Team Lotus-Renault!

Renault F1 will now operate as a profit centre, as they’ll ‘sell’ this expertise to three separate teams! So, from a team struggling with its finances, this one will now make money!

I hope this Lotus-Renault-Lotus issue is soon resolved, as quite frankly I’ve gotten bored reading and processing all of it. After all, Lotus – whichever of the two teams – still has to get back to its legendary winning ways in modern day Formula 1 before it can really make an impact!

Decade of Legends



Formula 1 has a knack for over-talking legends involved in the sport, especially in the off-season. 2008 saw the excessive talk of car manufacturers exiting the sport, 2009 was all about Michael Schumacher’s comeback, and 2010 has only been about Lotus. Time to bring an end to the Lotus saga, and focus on the 2000-2010 decade in Formula 1, which truly has been nothing short of legendary!

Whether you’re a Ferrari lover or not, the first half of the decade has to be labeled as the Ferrari-Schumacher era. The Ferrari-Schumacher combo dominated Formula 1 for a full five years, and clinched back-to-back Drivers and Constructors World Championships. What also followed were records that will need a near-miracle by any team and/or driver to match.

The latter half of the decade saw the F1 young guns stake their claim on the sport. Alonso’s double world titles, followed by the victories of Kimi Raikkonen and then the finds of the decade – Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. I think the only driver who surprised one and all by his championship win was Jenson Button in a Brawn GP car. The best part of the last four World Titles was that they were fought till the last GP of the season. None of the drivers were Schumacher-esque in their approach, but offered some truly exciting on-track action.

The FIA also saw some exciting (read: dumb) moments in this decade. Some of their rules were meant for a comedy show: no tyre-changes and single lap qualifying to name a couple. Moreover, the Technical Working Group, Overtaking Working Group, and other such amusing nomenclatures have yet failed to achieve their objectives. The only interesting change was that of KERS, and of course the attempts to reduce costs overall.

To sum it up, the 2000-2010 decade has to belong to Michael Schumacher, who not only clinched 5 consecutive drivers’ championships with Ferrari, but also returned with arch-rivals Mercedes GP in 2010 to try and win some more. Now the question is how much of Schumacher will we see in the 2011-2020 decade? Or does the future lie solely with the young guns?