Green vs Black - which Lotus do you support?
by Mark Martin on Jan 14th, 2011In football you will often hear about ‘derby matches’. These are tense, sometimes bitter confrontations between two teams hailing from the same area – often the same city - that divide the local population and ultimately results in a very heated contest.
Now, after years of waiting, Formula One finally has a similar competition. This will – we’ve decided - be titled the Lotus Derby, because next year all signs point to there being two Lotus team on the same grid.
Both Lotus bosses have already fired warning shots, with Lotus Renault GP (aka Black Lotus) owner Dany Bahar stating that you will be able to tell which Lotus team is his ‘as it will be the one higher up the field’, while Team Lotus (aka Green Lotus) boss Tony Fernandes has had a dig at Bahar by stating that all he is doing is sponsoring a team which is already well established. Ouch!
So how is the confrontation shaping up thus far? Badger guest writer Mark Martin has taken a look.
Credit: Cosworth
Round one: The fans
The opening contest between the two was an attempt to win fan approval. A survey conducted on Wednesday revealed that 41% of fans have pledged their allegiance to Fernandes’ Team Lotus, with only 20% supporting Bahar’s Lotus Renault GP.
However, the remaining 39% stated that they would support neither of the teams as they are nothing to do with the original Lotus, which was the darling of the fans in olden days with drivers such as Jim Clark, Emerson Fittipaldi and the British bulldog himself Nigel Mansell (before he decided on a new career as a comedy actor in Moneysupermarket commercials).
Round one: Green Lotus – it may not be a majority but they have the greater fan backing.
Round two: Politicians
Tony Fernandes famously bought Air Asia from the Malaysian government for a reputed $1 after the company plunged into debt while under government ownership. Fernandes subsequently turned it into a multi-million dollar company and one of the most popular airlines in the ASEAN region.
It appears that the Malaysian government never forgot this defeat, and they are determined that the Proton Car Company (which is also part-owned by the government), does not end in similar failure.
They therefore hired Bahar at the end of 2009 and charged him with the task of making the company a major global player. The ex-Ferrari man informed them that the Lotus Car Company would benefit from F1 involvement, leading to them fully supporting Bahar purchase of the Renault F1 team.
Round two: Black Lotus – If it comes down to a political fight it’s Bahar who’ll win. Tony’s left himself a little isolated.
Credit: Octane Photos
Round three: The livery
Rightly believing the rumours that Bahar was about to purchase Renault, Tony Fernandes assumed that the team would adopt the classic black and gold Lotus livery based on the gold/black Renault-powered cars of the 1980s and the fact that the 2010 Renault was black and yellow. Therefore, perhaps in order to annoy them, Fernandes started a competition on his team’s website to design their new black and gold livery for the 2011 season, likely assuming that this would force Bahar to alter his plans.
However, Bahar was unfazed by this and revealed his team’s black and gold livery to the press before Fernandes’s competition had finished. The result was that Mike Gascoyne and Fernandes back-tracked and stated that they will be keeping the British Racing Green colours used during their 2010 campaign.
Round three: Black Lotus – Got the design out first, anything Tony and Mike did would have looked like copying. We’re glad they’re sticking with British Racing Green anyway.
Round 4: Legal challenge
Officially this has yet to be settled, but it is assumed by many in the F1 community that Fernandes has every right to use the ‘Team Lotus’ name. This is based on an argument going back fifty years, when the original team was formed by Colin Chapman. Fernandes claims that Chapman set up ‘Team Lotus’ as a separate team from the Lotus Car Company to protect each from the other. Bahar meanwhile claims that this is nonsense as they are both divisions of ‘Group Lotus’ (which Proton owns), despite the fact that Lotus Cars didn’t have to pay off Team Lotus’ many creditors when it collapsed in 1994. Nevertheless, Bahar is persisting with his legal challenge in an attempt to stop Fernandes from using the Lotus name.
Round four: Green Lotus – ‘Team’ always existed separately from ‘Group’ so that if one got in to financial trouble it wouldn’t drag the other down with it. Tony’s use of Team Lotus in 2011 is legit.
Credit: Cosworth
Round five: F1 2011
Heading into 2011, with many legal challenges ultimately hanging over both of their heads, the two teams are equal at two apiece. This outcome of the derby will therefore be decided by the 2011 F1 season, as the two teams take their battle to the track.
Under the guise of Renault F1, Lotus Renault GP made huge strides in 2010 after a miserable 2009, which was marred by both the crash-gate revelations and a dismal eighth in the constructor’s championship. This simply wouldn’t do for the former champions, who split with Flavio Briatore and set about a drastic development programme to improve the R30 chassis, which badly under-performed during winter testing. The team also hired BMW refugee Robert Kubica as lead driver following the loss of Fernando Alonso.
The result was a much improved outfit that finished fifth in the constructors championship and improved throughout 2010. It is always a good sign when each new part introduced improves lap times, as it shows that the team and facilities are all in tune. This bodes well for their 2011 car, and Robert Kubica is more than capable of leading them back to the top of the podium.
Team Lotus on the other hand faced an uphill battle throughout 2010. Having only been granted entry to the championship in September 2009, the T127 chassis was a rushed job. Nevertheless, a monumental effort from Mike Gascoyne and his design crew led to the team being by far the most impressive of the newcomers, eventually securing that all important tenth place in the constructors’ championship, which guarantees them increased revenues for 2011. This, together with a deal to run the championships winning Red Bull-Renault back end for their car which the team have had far more time to develop will undoubtedly lead to a much improved Team Lotus in 2011. Kovalainen and Trulli and good performers when they are in the mood, so there are no excuses on that front.
The battle lines are drawn; who will it be that wins the Lotus derby?
Comments and Discussion
Am I missing something? Great article Mark, but isn't 'Black Lotus' still Renault? Group Lotus are the main sponsor, I see that - but the team is surely still Renault. By the same token, wouldn't AT&T Williams be referred to as AT&T rather than Williams? For me, am with the 39% of fans who deem neither the 'real' Lotus. Branding is all-important these days, but I don't think either team can lay claim to Lotus' F1 history.
This is my doing and it's just for fun . You're quite right Simon, they are just a sponsor at the minute and so the team is still Renault, albeit not owned in any way by Renault. But having Green Lotus vs Black Lotus makes the whole ridiculous scenario even more ridiculous - you have to laugh at it.
Nice post. I find the most ridiculous thing about the new Renault livery is the HUGE Lotus badge. It's like it's saying "Look at me"
Sorry - I wasn't trying to be a party-pooper!! I just think Group Lotus are going to do VERY well out of their tie-up with Renault. Because of the Green Vs Black scenario, I bet we will here "Lotus" Renault from the commentators a lot more than "AT&T" Williams - therefore getting a lot more coverage from their sponsorship deal.
How embarrassing - please make an option to edit comments. I wrote here instead of hear - my English teacher will go mental!! (Although he will be about 90 now!) Either way, the Lotus v Lotus story has created a lot to talk about over the winter
"Tony's use of Team Lotus in 2011 is legit" - maybe so, but the Chapman family requested that he did not use that name. This is one of the reasons why they have withdrawn their support for Green Lotus.
What are the odds for Renault to buy proton in the next two years or maybe 2-5 years!
Thats exactly what it is saying! It means IT HAS THE BADGE where Green Lotus is er badge less!
Once more what are the odds for saying ONLY ONE CAR WILL RIDE WITHE ACBC BADGE ON THE FRONT!
chapman family only have their eyes on moeny.....they should consider our feeling as fans that had been stay with Tony Fernandes since last year when the build something out of nothign!!! Not just change the livery of renault and claim it is Lotus!!!
I will stick with Tony Fernandes...!!! Renault is great team...but it is a shame to bought Lotus name next to it!!!
The Chapman family no longer have the right to comment on how the Team Lotus name is used since they sold it to David Hunt. They should just keep quiet and stick to running classic Team Lotus instead.
It's like Bruce McLaren's family coming out and saying Ron Dennis has no rights to the name.
Whilst they may not have a legal right it's still a big coup for Black Lotus to have Clive Chapman on their side. It will change some people's mind for sure.
Clive sold Team Lotus. Did he expect the buyer (David Hunt) to never try and get a return on his $?
The Malaysian Politicians on the Proton board are working overtime here. Its a very said state of affairs. Its also very sad for the guys at Enstone to have their reputations messed with in this way.
I'm Fernandes/Gascoyne Green all the way. Sorry Enstone.
Black Lotus Renault is no different from calling your team Vauxhall Ford or BMW Skoda.
`` ... Jim Clark, Emerson Fittipaldi and the British bulldog himself
Nigel Mansell ...'' How dare you omit Senna from that list of drivers!
In the politics round you missed the propaganda employed by the Black
Lotus team: for example Autosport ran a cover as well as articles on
the Black Lotus team. While Autosport bears no official authority, its
opinion carries a lot of influence. So in effect to me that looked
like Autosport sanctioning the Black Lotus team as THE Lotus team.
I don't like either team much, but my vote goes to the Black Lotus
team. They have the best chances to re-establish the sterling
reputation of Lotus. We have seen a Lotus-Renault partnership before,
so their joint venture is in agreement with history. Additionally the
Black Lotus team will run as a British team, so that makes it closer
to the original team. And, let's face it, the black-gold livery looks
quite cool! I also have the feeling that many people are sticking with
Green Lotus because they are seen as the underdog in this fight.
It's just a name. It means nothing, literally nothing. It's just the meaningless use of a brand. Who cares if they run under a British flag!? That doesn't make them any closer to the original team than if Danny Bahar changes his name to Colin Chapman (which he should, just to add to this whole ridiculous scenario).
Neither team is Lotus no matter what colour they paint their cars or what a member of Chapman's family says. it's all just marketing nonsense that frankly does little more than devalue the original incarnation of the team. all that said i like Fernades and Gascoyne - they're good for f1 - but that's got nowt to do with them being called Lotus.
I think us in the "neither camp" need to band together more strongly... perhaps we can adopt Red Lotus as the one true Lotus?
...and this is due to the fact that Group Lotus renaged on their license deal with Fernandes and pushed them into a corner. Why do the Chapman's have to support either team seeing as they have no connection to Proton or the Malaysian government?
You mean Ferrari -:)
Did anyone see this car at the Autosport International?
[img]http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/08/10/automobiles/wheels-Lotus-125-2/wheels-Lotus-125-2-blogSpan.jpg[/img]
It was next to the new Renault. It is a Group Lotus car, if I understand right, powered by Cosworth. You can buy it and go racing with it.
This car said on the side "500 Grands Prix, Valencia 2010". What on earth is that all about? Group Lotus wasn't in F1 in 2010, right? Are they accepting that Lotus Racing was in 2010 a continuation of Team Lotus, and claiming their Grands Prix for their new team? And in any case, Group Lotus has never raced in F1! How can they have 500 Grands Prix?
Or Pacific Grand Prix. Someone call up Clive Chapman and tell him, the only true Lotus is called a Pacific, has a blue and white paintjob and Andrea Montermini doing the driving.
their reasoning is that they still backed fernandes and gascoyne til then so technically it was lotus and so technically they've done 500 grand prix.... eventually they're going to get totally tied up by all the contradictions in their publicity literature.
How about we stop calling Renault Lotus?
They arent Lotus they are Renault (well they arent even Renault but you know what i mean)
!!!
what i wanna know is who, what, when, where and why autosport were convinced to come out declaring Lotus Renault GP as 'the real Lotus'. shameless stuff IMHO.
My heart follows where the spirit of Lotus goes... looks like the folks to Team Lotus do that for me