Caterham F1

In perhaps the most unexpected news in Formula 1 since Nelson Piquet Jr. lost his seat at Renault, Lotus Racing has announced that it is not going to play out the issue of the “Lotus” name in public.

I know, I know. Me, too. I’m shocked and disappointed.

Here’s the Lotus release:

LOTUS RACING UPDATE

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 30th September 2010

In a bid to alleviate the public confusion surrounding the ongoing matter between Lotus Racing and Proton / Group Lotus, Lotus Racing shareholder and Deputy Team Principal Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun recently had the opportunity to meet Proton Adviser Tun Dr Mahathir. The meeting was to discuss the matter in person and agree a future course of action for Lotus Racing.

Lotus Racing believes it is acting within its own rights, and as a result of this meeting, the team will now refrain from making any further comments on the matter. This action is upon advice from Tun Dr Mahathir, and it is out of our respect for him that we will act upon his wishes as he has supported us since our inception, and his backing has been invaluable in our growth.

We are very grateful for having had the opportunity to put forth our case and have complete trust that a fair review will be made, and a decision on the matter will be announced in due course.

Ends

I do love that the team says it believes it is right… and then about half a dozen words later announces it is shutting up. It did manage to get that last dig in.

But, supposedly that’s all we’ll hear. It’s a switch from the usual “let’s play everything out in public, from Spankgate to Spygate to trying out the new Mankini.” Do you think it is because a deal is possible, imminent, not going to happen, or is Lotus Racing on the losing end and starting to circle the wagons?

The Lotus Racing story has some odd twists and turns but in the end, it really appears to be a power struggle for the name Lotus. The Lotus Racing team was originally formed as 1Malaysia Racing Team owned by Malaysian tycoon and AirAsia owner Tony Fernandes. Fernandes engaged Proton, owner of Lotus cars and their subsidiary group Group Lotus, to use the name “Lotus Racing” as he ventured into F1 at the beginning of 2010. The team has met with a modicum of success in that they are currently the best of all the new teams that entered F1 in 2010 including HRT and Virgin Racing.

When Fernandes formed his team in late 2009 and announced that he would be running under the name Lotus Racing, there were a series of questions as to which Lotus he was referring too. Was it the classic “Team Lotus” who naming rights were owned by David Hunt, brother of former F1 driver James Hunt, or was Fernandes referring to Lotus cars? Purists were concerned that Fernandes would soil the fine and historic name of Team Lotus but it was pointed out that the name “Team Lotus” did not belong to the Proton group or Fernandes and his 1Malaysian Racing Team would be Lotus Racing, not Team Lotus.

This year, clinging to the success the team has had, Fernandes approached Team Lotus Ventures Ltd. owner David Hunt about using the name “Team Lotus” in 2011. The plot thickened when Lotus Racing chief executive officer Riad Asmat announced they had actually purchased Team Lotus Ventures Ltd from Hunt. This would imply thy now have the right to participate in the 2011 Formula 1 series under the name Team Lotus.

Not so fast––it appear Proton (Group Lotus) have said that Fernandes has no right to use the Lotus brand. In fact, they were terminating the agreement they had with Fernandes to allow him to even use the name Lotus Racing, which is what the team is currently called, for 2011. It seems that Fernandes is intent on using the name and has warned they will take this to British courts to decide.

It seems a bit odd to me that Proton/Group Lotus are beside themselves over the use of the name when they themselves couldn’t secure it or had no rights to it in 2009. Only now, with the success that Fernandes has had and his desire to leave Proton/Group Lotus in favor of his own naming rights and team, that Proton would start claiming brand rights over the name “Team Lotus”.

I am not a British law expert but I find the argument weak that Proton, who had no rights tot he name “Team Lotus” last year, now claim they do. I also find it suspect that Proton now wants to enter into GP2 and GP3 and has a real appetite for racing beyond their sponsorship role in 2010.

Fernandes has outmaneuvered Proton in order to eliminate them from the equation. He needed them to paint he cars green in 2010 but now wants his own show. Some may view that as a tad terse or abusive of a relationship to the point of “using” Proton and when gaining success, he now looks to jettison them as a sponsor and partner. Proton wants to promote Lotus cars and the desire to enter racing series such as GP2 and GP3 makes sense as well as Indycar and Le Mans.

Which camp do you reside in? Who do you feel is right? Let us know your thoughts as we unpack this issue together.

Lotus Racing has extended its deal with technical chief Mike Gasgoyne until 2015.

That’s right, Gasgoyne apparently is going to finish a season at the same team where we started it.

Here’s Mike, via the BBC. I’m not seeing a Lotus release yet:

“Having started the team from scratch with Tony it was always my intention to finish my career here.

“So it’s great to have formally agreed a five-year deal. I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to the whole team.”

The 47-year-old added: “We’ve had a great start to our partnership together, and I’m looking forward to continuing that for the next five years, and even beyond that.”

The signing is being spun as a bit of positive news given Lotus Racing’s dust-up over the Lotus name with Lotus street-car producer Proton. Here’s Tony Fernandes:

“Mike’s five year deal is a major announcement for the whole Lotus Racing team,” he said.

“It shows just how serious we are, not only about how far ahead we are setting our aspirations, but also as a reward to Mike for the incredibly hard work he and the team have already put in to get us from literally four people back in September 2009 to our current position as a serious F1 player with a very bright future ahead of us.”

Tony keeps going on about how established the team is and what a bright future it has. Do you agree that Lotus is the most solid of the new teams? Do you have any worries about its future? And how much is the Lotus name fight worrying you?

And: Do you think extending Gasgoyne’s deal was a good decision?

The battle over the name “Lotus” is about to get much, much more heated.

Lotus Racing (aka the team now on the Formula 1 grid) on Monday announced its intent to clarify who has the right to the historic “Team Lotus” name in the English courts.

That move came after Proton, owner of the Lotus road car (i.e. those Elises you see tooling around), threatened its own legal action.

Grace covered that part of the story earlier today. Here’s an excerpt:

It appears that Group Lotus wants to start an F1 team of their own instead of going along with Fernandes, hence the battle for the “Team Lotus” name. Fernandes, on the other hand, doesn’t want two “Lotus” teams showing up on the grid in the near future so he’s trying to buy the name and keep Proton from using it. I also think F1B reader F1 Kitteh is on to something in the previous post: (paraphrasing) The team used to be Team Malaysia and now they’re not so Proton wants out. F1 Kitteh suggests the Fernandes and Mike Gascoyne are smart enough to figure out that being associated with Malaysia is a handicap and not an asset so they need to keep it English, hence Team Lotus.

Seemingly at the center of this — from the fan perspective — is an issue of there potentially being two Lotus teams in F1, as well as perhaps at the GP2 level.

For the players involved, it is about marketing, market share, brand management, etc.

Here’s what Lotus Racing had to say about its response to Proton’s threat. Via a press release from Lotus Racing, with Lotus Racing Chief Executive Officer Riad Asmat speaking:

“However, given that this is contested by Group Lotus we think now is the time to clear this matter up so there can be no further arguments. We have therefore today issued proceedings in the English High Court for a declaration that Team Lotus Ventures has the rights to use the Team Lotus name and everything associated with that brand in relation to Formula One™.

“Racing under the Team Lotus name from 2011 means our licence with Group Lotus has now come to an end. In reality, this has nothing to do with how we will go racing in 2011, as the ownership of Team Lotus has been clearly defined for many years. David was approached a number of times about selling the rights of Team Lotus Ventures, including one official offer of from Proton / Group Lotus themselves. That must have been tempting for David, as the rightful owner of the Team Lotus brand and its rights. Oddly enough, Group Lotus also recently tried to revoke the Team Lotus trade marks at a hearing at the Trade Mark Registry, but they were unsuccessful. I suspect David’s misgivings about their previous offer to buy were justified by that action.

“The licence debate really is a non-issue. It was a simple licence, attached to a one year sponsorship deal with Proton for 2010 alone, and in fact for a tiny proportion of the amount invested by the shareholders into the team – approximately 1.5% of the total budget. Unfortunately we never reached the point where we discussed extending that one year deal. When we signed our licence to compete as Lotus Racing with Group Lotus, they were very clear that we could not make any reference to Team Lotus as they had no rights at all to the Team Lotus name or its rights. In fact, in the licence agreement between 1Malaysia Racing and Group Lotus the use of the Team Lotus name is expressly prohibited as they had agreed contractually, as long ago as 1985, that they had not rights to use that name. That was obviously something we had enormous respect for, and made no attempt to change until we could do so rightfully, and with a very clear understanding of what we had acquired in Team Lotus Ventures.

“So now the licence we ran under this year has been withdrawn by Group Lotus, and while we accept that this obviously means we have reached the end of that chapter, it opens up a new and very exciting one for everyone in our team. There will have to be some discussions with Proton and Group Lotus about the entitlement to terminate the licence. Frankly, they are trying to say that some very trivial points, including t-shirt design approvals of all things, gave them the right to terminate, but we thoroughly reject this.

“Now we look to the future. The details of what has been going on behind the scenes are now coming to light, and that’s good because it means the shareholders of Proton, the government, will now know the truth of what has been going on. However the important thing is to look at what we are doing to guarantee future success. We have already invested heavily in ensuring the Malaysian / ASEAN motorsports platform grows, something that cannot be said for our colleagues at Group Lotus. We created a world first when we ran Nabil Jeffri in our aero test earlier this year – the youngest ever F1 test driver. Fairuz has been gaining invaluable experience at the highest level by driving for us, and, through Tony and Din’s AirAsia Driver Development programme, we are giving young Malaysian / ASEAN talent the chance to reach the top. We are so proud to have laid the foundations for future success, and our fans acknowledge this every day. Personally I think it’s odd that our colleagues at Group Lotus have not embraced what we are giving them – a global platform for creating huge awareness and great value for their operations, all at no cost to them. In one year we have made huge strides in the growth of Lotus Racing, and now it’s all about Team Lotus.”

It sure beats the Force India suit against Lotus over stealing one of their model cars, huh?

Anyone with familiarity with British law want to weigh on what might happen?

Today in Singapore, Lotus team principal Tony Fernandes announced that they have bought the rights from Davide Hunt and can now change the teams name from Lotus Racing to Team Lotus for the 2011 season*. Now I’ve heard several reason why this is important and yet something isn’t quite adding up for me.

The reasons why:
1. History: To quote Tony Fernanades: “It will bring history full circle and operate under as Team Lotus as Colin Chapman did.” Right on, jolly good and all, but I’m not buying it. History is what you tell the fans, it’s not why you do business.

2. Control: Currently, Lotus is operating as a consortium of backers including State owned Malaysia car company Proton, who happens to own Group Lotus. By changing their name to Team Lotus, they now gain control back from Group Lotus (and Malaysia) and now stand firmly as a separate entity from them.

3. Distraction: This is all just smoke and mirrors to distract us from the real question we want answered – what engines are they running for 2011? Cosworth or Renault? Fernanades says a decision will be made shortly but that he’s confident that everything will work out. Sure, that’s what Colin Kolles says when asked about HRT financial status.

Or maybe there’s something else. Maybe I’m too much of a conspiracy theory wonk but this just doesn’t add up. There making such a big deal about something that is important but not THAT important. Did Tony steal someone’s girlfriend? I mean really, what gives? There has to be another shoe to drop. Either that or I’ve spend too much time with Ferrari and McLaren.

So what do you think?

*Apparently, baring Bernie Ecclestone’s approval since he wants the team to be know as Team Lotus F1 for some crazy reason (fills his pockets with more money).

Hi

The Belgian Grand Prix is known for being one of the most exciting in the sporting calender. Corners like Eau Rouge and Blanchimont are known worldwide. It is one of the most looked forward too events in F1. However, like every exciting track it is still dangerous. But like many tracks it has been modernised to make it safer and if you comapred it to the Spa of years ago it is no where near as dangerous

Most people consider the black weekend in F1 to be the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix weekend where we lost Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. Now, this is truly one of the most horrific weekends in the history of F1. However, this years Belgian Grand Prix will mark the 50th anniversary of one of the other black weekends in F1 history.

The 1960 Belgian Grand Prix saw two young British drivers lose their lives. Neither driver had ever scored a point and had only 11 grand prix starts between them. Neither had made their mark in the world of F1 and both died within 5 laps of each other at the same corner. These two drivers were Alan Stacey and Chris Bristow.

The Belgian Grand Prix had already had two major accident already with Stirling Moss crashing at the Burnenville corner breaking his legs and other bones and Mike Taylor crashing which caused paralysis ending his racing career.

Chris Bristow was just 22 years old. He was one of the quickest drivers of the time but very wild. He was nick named the 'Wild man of British Club racing'. He spun out or crashed at nearly every event but when he did manage to cross the finish line he normally achieved a strong result. According to his contemporaries he could of been the Michael Schumacher of the era.

If this true Chris Bristow could of won races and titles in a era of strong drivers including Brabham, Von Trips, Surtees and Graham Hill. So if his contemporaries are too be believed Bristow was clearly a talented individual. But despite this it was viewed by those who were closest to Bristow to be to soon for him to be in F1. After his death it was reported that a close friend of Bristow said We all knew this was going to happen. It does no good to say now, but Chris simply did not have the experience to drive that way in Grand Prix racing.

It was Bristow's fourth grand prix and up untill then his career F1 stats were a 10th and 2 retirements which doesnt sound like much, however in practice and test sessions he was impressing everyone with incredibly fast almost fearless driving. In 2 seasons it was felt that he would of been a contender for the title.

However on Lap 19 all of that potential and promise sadly disappeared. Coming up to the Burnenville corner he was locked in battle with the Ferrari of Willy Mairesse. Bristow made a mistake and ploughed off the track smashing into a earth bank. This rolled the car over causing Bristow to fly out of the car and straight into a barbed wire fence. He was beheaded by the fence.

F1 had lost a potential great in a truly horrific way and had seen already seen two horrific injuries that weekend but things continued to get worse at Spa.

Alan Stacey was the older of the two but was still only 26. He had an artificial leg but was still determined to drive in F1 so conspired with others to ensure that he passed his medical. Due to this he did struggle with F1 due to his inability to perform 'heel and toe' braking. His driving style was considered by many to be conservative which was probably due to this fact.

Despite this he performed very well in the lower categories so was given a shot in F1. It was his 7th grand prix and had an 8th place and 5 retirements in his career up to that point. The 1960 was his first full season (if you don't include the Indy 500 which was still technically a world championship event) and was looking like he could be a reliable if unspectacular driver for Team Lotus.

At Belgium on Lap 24 the life of Alan Stacey ended. He was killed in a way that was incredibly bizarre. It is believed from eye witness accounts that a bird struck the face of Stacey which either knocked him out cold or even broke his neck right there but whatever happened there he failed to turn for the Burnenville corner and crashed.

The truth was during the early years of world championship grand prix racing any crash at a decent speed was likely to result in serious injury or even death. Fortuantly, things are now much safer and we are now in the 16th year since the last F1 fatality . However we can't forget how dangerous motorsport is.

Thanks for reading