Michael Schmidt's Formula 1 blog: The lotus theater

K andidat one is Tony Fernandes, the Has revived Lotus in the past season. He competed under Lotus Racing and secured the naming rights for 'Team Lotus' in September. That brings back memories of Colin Chapman's time. The green cars were on the entry list back then. Of course the little band from Hingham is not Lotus. The racing team should belong to the Chapman widow Hazel or the son Clive. Anything called a lotus will always be a fraudulent label. Fernandes, however, has to be given credit for having the blessings of the Chapman family. She can live with the fact that the airline owner is cheating.

The winners include Renault and John Player

Fernandes has officially competed since December 8th. The road division Group Lotus is allied with Renault and wants to start in 2011 under the name Lotus Renault GP. As the arrangement of the words suggests, Lotus is only a sponsor. The sports car manufacturer, which is now part of Proton, has nothing to do with building the cars. This is still done by the racing team from Enstone, which has been walking the Renault logo since 2002. Last year, however, already on a private mission. 75 percent of the team belonged to Gerard Lopez, the head of a Luxembourg investment firm. The shares of Renault go to Lotus. Only the engines come from Paris. The merger leads to the fact that the force completely loses its identity. She is neither Lotus nor Renault.

The marketing concept behind this marriage is not very clear to anyone. Lotus director Dany Bahar wants to promote his product offensive on the road with success on the racetrack. But if Robert Kubica should win a Grand Prix in 2011, then at best Renault will cheer. Or have you ever had the feeling that Marlboro will reap the laurels when you win a Ferrari? The black and gold paintwork of the Lotus Renault is even more absurd. It's supposed to be a reminder of the era of Lotus in John Player colors, which spanned from 1972 to 1986. The British cigarette company will thank you for the free promotion. That should bring the other tobacco freaks up the barricades. Marlboro gets into trouble when the barcode can be seen on the Ferrari, because that could be interpreted as hidden cigarette advertising.

One number one too many

The paint job is actually a foul of revenge on Tony Fernandes, who was first toHad the idea with the black and gold paint. Fernandes assumed that the unpleasant competition would paint their cars in the traditional green with the yellow stripe, i.e. in the colors he had chosen for the Lotus comeback. Which is still more related to Lotus than black and gold. Now that Lopez and Bahar have stolen the plan, Fernandes switches back to green. What a kindergarten!

I'm curious how long Lopez and Bahar get along. Both believe they invented the round plate. Both feel like top dogs in their territory. Let's see what happens when one becomes too powerful for the other. At the moment she is welding together the money that Lotus wants to deliver to Renault. The day will come when there is one number one too many in this team.