Lotus to keep name until 2017 despite losing title sponsorship
2012 F1 season
Lotus say they will retain their current name for at least another five years, despite losing their title sponsorship from Group Lotus.
Lotus, which previously competed as Renault, agreed a title sponsorship deal with car manufacturer Group Lotus in 2010.
It took Tony Fernandes’s Team Lotus to court over the right to use the Lotus name last year, and lost.
The team later reached reached a settlement with Fernandes’ outfit which saw the latter rebrand as Caterham and Renault take over the Lotus name.
However the loss of its sponsorship deal with Group Lotus will not mean another change of identity in F1. A team spokesperson told F1 Fanatic it could continue doing so beyond 2017.
The team added there will be no immediate changes to the Lotus branding on its cars.
Genii owner Gerard Lopez told Autosport: “The sponsorship agreement and the obligations of Lotus have been terminated. There is no option from Group Lotus to buy into F1 now – that option was taken over by us. There was one, but we have taken it over now.”
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Image © Lotus F1 Team/LAT
rUN_FOR_IT_SCOOBY said on 6th April 2012, 11:07
My brain hurts just from reading that.
Slr (@slr) said on 6th April 2012, 12:09
Same here. I didn’t even know that Group Lotus stopped sponsoring Lotus.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 6th April 2012, 12:54
@slr
Nobody did until about two hours ago when the team announced it.
Slr (@slr) said on 6th April 2012, 13:07
Oh – I imagined they’d stopped sponsoring them weeks ago or something and I missed it.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 6th April 2012, 13:08
That may be true, but this is the first time it has been announced.
Diogenes said on 6th April 2012, 14:02
This has actually been known for almost a month.Here is a quote from an Adam Cooper article on Speed’s website on March 13th:
COOPER: Season Of Possibilities For ‘Lotus’
bosyber (@bosyber) said on 6th April 2012, 17:40
Thanks for that Diogenes, very interesting. Can’t say I like the way the current Lotus F1 team management thinks terribly much, if I go by that. I do wish the Enstone team good luck though.
xeroxpt (@) said on 6th April 2012, 16:43
I only knew because of the engine issues Lotus had on Indy but I didnt knew had a clue about details.
Bleeps_and_Tweaks (@bleeps_and_tweaks) said on 6th April 2012, 12:59
Total farce.
This whole sorry affair shows how little respect they have for one of the biggest names in F1. They’re a multi title winning team, and have produced another great car this year. If only the suits were as diligent as the race team.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 6th April 2012, 13:06
@bleeps_and_tweak – As several other users have pointed out, Gerard Lopez has been named as a prospective buyer of Lotus Cars on a pretty consistent basis. This may be an attempt to sever all ties with the manufacturer so that he can then turn around and buy it without anyone claiming a conflict of interests.
bearforce1 (@bearforce1) said on 6th April 2012, 13:15
@PM I hope this or some other positive plan is in place for this that we just aren’t privy to. Too much nonsense and drama to have nothing come of the Lotus debacle.
Glad I didn’t buy into the heated debates and arguments about Lotus last year (and that was just naming). What a waste of energy that all was.
Bleeps_and_Tweaks (@bleeps_and_tweaks) said on 6th April 2012, 18:16
@prisoner-monkeys I’ll be honest I’ve read this article and the Telegraph link below, and I still don’t fully understand who owns what anymore.
It just seems to be more than a little sacrilegious to have a name like Lotus, one of the most prominent in all motorsport, being constantly bought, sold, transferred etc. Add on to that the fact that the Enstone F1 team are doing such a fantastic job on the track, whilst off it they are changing hands more often than a game of pass the parcel.
Hopefully Lopez, or someone can put all of the pieces of the puzzle back together and provide a truly secure future for what is a iconic name, and an excellent current F1 team.
John Edwards said on 6th April 2012, 14:10
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/9190350/Lotus-F1-cut-sponsorship-ties-with-Group-Lotus.html
That explains it a bit better.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65) said on 6th April 2012, 14:11
Lotus, which wasn’t Lotus until Lotus changed his name to Caterham, will still be Lotus despite losing Lotus as sponsor. Simple.
GeordiePorker said on 6th April 2012, 16:42
^ what he said! LOL
lachy said on 6th April 2012, 19:27
COTD!!!!!
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 6th April 2012, 11:08
The team probably know better than I do on this subject, but I believe that when Group Lotus settled with Tony Fernandes last year, the rights to the Lotus name transferred to their ownership. If this is the case, then in the event that someone buys Group Lotus/Lotus Cars and they do not want to be associated with Lotus F1 – particularly if the prevailing view is that Dany Bahar’s plans led to the company’s collapse – then the team may be forced to change their name.
RFB said on 7th April 2012, 12:14
Who’s ready to put some money on Fernandes buying Group Lotus and suing Lotus ?
chris said on 8th April 2012, 10:58
You would lose a lot of money if you did that sir
BasCB (@bascb) said on 6th April 2012, 11:11
I guess this means that Lopez wants to open up to a paying main sponsor. And don’t forget he is still in the running for actually buying Group Lotus, when the chance arrives.
Todfod (@todfod) said on 6th April 2012, 11:31
Agree, the F1 team take over aspirants must be keeping a watchful eye on this team.
I would love to Virgin get out of Marrussia and put there money here instead.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 6th April 2012, 12:36
There’s virtually no Virgin money in Marussia these days. They have one tiny logo on the airbox and that’s it.
Tommo said on 7th April 2012, 23:18
Can’t see Virgin being interested anyway, F1/major sports aren’t really their style of advertising, too expensive and their product range is too broad.
The team was only an experiment/vanity project, and they clearly don’t think it was worth it.
Umar Majid (@um1234) said on 6th April 2012, 11:14
This business with Lotus confuses the life out of me, even Kimi doesnt know who hes racing for!
sorin said on 6th April 2012, 11:27
He don’t care
Lurker said on 6th April 2012, 11:30
Yeah but Kimi doesn’t care what the team is called either. So long as the car is fast.
They could rename the team the Flying-Spaghetti-Monster (Renault) team and he’d climb aboard without so much as a raised eyebrow.
That’s why I like Kimi. No drama, he just gets on with it.
Umar Majid (@um1234) said on 6th April 2012, 11:35
Well said! Unlike Grosjean he actually drives the car…Silly Grosjean, hw probably is more intent on smiling than the actual racing lol.
dkpioe said on 6th April 2012, 16:58
that is such a dumb comment, all it shows is your hate of “Silly Grosjean”
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 6th April 2012, 12:21
I think you could apply that criteria to any driver on the grid. They all want a fast car.
bosyber (@bosyber) said on 6th April 2012, 17:43
Maybe excluding Ferrari for some @andrewtanner but for the most part quite true.
Ady (@ady) said on 6th April 2012, 11:16
Talk about achieving the worst outcome possible from sponsorship in F1. Group Lotus have only managed to generate bad press in this whole sad episode.
ajokay (@ajokay) said on 6th April 2012, 11:18
There… there really are no words, are there? I almost hope Lotus goes completely user and dies a death now, much as I like the Elise. They’ve messed themselves up beyond belief.
ajokay (@ajokay) said on 6th April 2012, 11:19
…completely *goes* and…
BasCB (@bascb) said on 6th April 2012, 11:45
Lets hope those rumours about Caterham buying the IP and moulds for the Elise etc. are true and they get to building those lovely cars instead soon.
sozavele (@formula-1) said on 6th April 2012, 11:25
Another team with future financial problems on the horizon
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 6th April 2012, 11:32
Never good news but I’m glad it’s affecting Lopez and not Fernandes. Only because I think Lopez is in a better position to react.
I was looking forward to Unilever upping their sponsorship. No Pot Noodle F1 :(
Diogenes said on 6th April 2012, 20:00
It may happen yet. After Grosjean crashes out of two more GPs, Lotus will dump him and use Unilever money to pry Perez loose from Sauber. Their Lotus title sponsorship won’t be for Pot Noodles though, instead they’ll promote another Unilever brand – Slim-Fast 8)
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 8th April 2012, 20:37
Either will do :D
Umar Majid (@um1234) said on 6th April 2012, 11:36
I actually dont get whats going on, is this good or bad for Lotus F1?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 6th April 2012, 12:23
@um1234 It’s bad news. They have lost their title sponsor. However, if they can find a team with appropriate funding it will be good news.
Snow Donkey said on 6th April 2012, 22:48
Not too sure about that… Seems when proton ceased to be the owners of group lotus, Lotus GP terminated the contract rather than deal with the new owners. Also they have unlivere and microsoft money coming in, as well as room for a title sponsor. Danny Bahar was not my favorite human either. I’d say good news.
sesku (@sesku) said on 7th April 2012, 4:17
Proton never cease the ownership of Group Lotus. Proton was acquired by DRB-Hicom. Group lotus was part of Proton. So, DRB-Hicom get Group Lotus as well.
HDS said on 6th April 2012, 11:38
I have never been able to make much sense of the Lotus goins on. >confused<
PJ (@pjtierney) said on 6th April 2012, 11:45
So now it would be safe to assume that this Lotus has no connection to the old Chapman Lotus other than name?
ScuderiaVincero (@scuderiavincero) said on 6th April 2012, 13:27
@pjtierney IMHO, Enstone never had any connections with Hethel (Yeah, I’m using their locations as names now), and neither did Hingham. So yeah, it’s only in the name.
ivz (@ivz) said on 7th April 2012, 0:07
So there is ‘Lotus’ who make the road cars, and then ‘Group Lotus’ who make racing cars, is that right? ***!? Starting to become a total joke, and destroying a name that was once on par with McLaren and Ferrari. This years car isn’t made by lotus, so why call it one? Its a Renault with major sponsorship by Group Lotus. You never heard the name ‘Mercedes McLaren’ when Merc had a large stake in that team?
Wish teams like Toyota, Honda and BMW would come back to F1.
Lothario said on 6th April 2012, 11:46
I am absolutley sick to death of all this naming crap..
Mike (@mike) said on 6th April 2012, 15:44
This is a completely separate issue.
Jarred Walmsley (@jarred-walmsley) said on 6th April 2012, 20:03
Not really, as this Lotus wasn’t able to be called Lotus, until Lotus changed it’s name to Lotus now has no connection to Lotus but will still be called Lotus.
It’s all in the name
Deurmat (@deurmat) said on 6th April 2012, 11:48
huh? So first Lotus sponsors renault in 2011. They change their name to Lotus. And now Lotus has dropped his sponsorship? When did this happen? So confused…
drmouse (@drmouse) said on 6th April 2012, 11:50
Only my oppionion, but I think this entire debacle was simply a way to stop Fernades using the Lotus name and protect their brand. They never really wanted a Lotus team on the grid, but better one which they chose than another random team.
This is backed up by them withdrawing as title sponsor. All they wanted was to use Renault to get control of their brand back. Now they have done so they are not fussed anymore.
bosyber (@bosyber) said on 6th April 2012, 17:45
You’d have to think there would have been cheaper, less embarrassing ways of getting that result @drmouse, wouldn’t you?
Proesterchen (@proesterchen) said on 6th April 2012, 11:56
(1) Keeping the name without the $$$s to pay for it is just silly.
(2) I’m sure the companies actually paying the team might want to have a say in its design. Personally, I can’t wait for the colour scheme to change.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 6th April 2012, 12:40
@proesterchen – It’s very difficult to change liveries mid-season. A one-off special livery, like the Red Bull Wings for Life design is okay, but Bernie likes the teams keeping a consistent livery to make it easier to identify the teams. That’s why he opposed BAR’s original plans to have one car in a Lucky Strike design, and the other in 555 colours.
Ry said on 6th April 2012, 13:13
Bernie didn’t like the BAR idea as each car would look different. As log as they both look the same he probably wouldn’t care.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen) said on 6th April 2012, 13:24
That was my understanding as well.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 6th April 2012, 13:54
Nevertheless, it is still very difficult for a team to change their livery mid-season.
Kenny (@kenny) said on 6th April 2012, 14:22
Why?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 6th April 2012, 23:52
@kenny – Because Bernie doesn’t like it.
sesku (@sesku) said on 6th April 2012, 15:42
Midland change livery mid season when Spyker bought them (albeit they just changed red colour to orange colour only)
Dizzy said on 6th April 2012, 15:58
Teams are allowed to change livery Mid-Season but they have to get permission from the FIA & all the other teams.
This is top stop teams changing livery all the time which is something you often see in Indycar which makes it very confusing for fans (And in cases commentators) to keep track of who’s who.
HewisLamilton said on 6th April 2012, 16:46
Which cars / teams have changed in Indycar?
plutoniumhunter (@plutoniumhunter) said on 6th April 2012, 18:59
I remember Franchitti’s Target-sponsored car switches between red and blue occasionally.
Dizzy said on 7th April 2012, 1:06
Several teams have run different liveries through the year.
Dario runs a blue liveried car now & then (Did at Barber last weekend) & I recall him running a black livery at least once last year.
Penske changed Helio & Briscoe’s livery a few times in 2010/2011.
Its quite common in Indycar to have special sponsor deals at some races to take advantage of sponsorship from local companies or for some sponsors to come on depending on what network its been broadcast on.
Michel S. (@hircus) said on 7th April 2012, 7:33
and Helio changed livery too in Barber, which must be confusing for new viewers who just saw him win at St. Pete’s
lecho said on 10th April 2012, 20:34
The livery is one thing – the second is all of the merchandise and stuff. Summing it up, it’s still better to keep up the old name and livery than start everything from scratch.
There is also the whole “brand” concept which, I think, is one of the reasons why Lopez wants to keep the name up until 2017. He has obviously done lot to use the “Lotus” name in F1 with his team and he surely wishes this investment to pay off.