F1

Group Lotus terminate Lotus sponsorship

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  • #131227
    AndrewTanner
    Participant

    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98628

    Quite drastic news! I’m not sure how they could keep the name going. Sounds like a good deal for Lotus’ new owner though. Brand awareness and not having to pay for it?

    #199053
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    The problem in all of this is that the settlement with Tony Fernandes meant that ownership of the Lotus names was trasferred to Group Lotus. If Lotus Cars’ new owners don’t want to be in Formula 1, then the team might be forced to change its name.

    #199054
    AndrewTanner
    Participant

    Would that have implications for their championship standings? Can you not only change your name once over a few years; i.e Sauber 2009-2010?

    #199055
    BenH
    Participant

    Lotus and Lotus have a falling out, Lotus and Lotus both racing that year and Lotus and Lotus in court. Lotus and Lotus both say they won. Lotus decides to call itself something else and Lotus decides it wants to be called Lotus through Lotus sponsorship. Meantime, someone else buys Lotus so Lotus then pulls Lotus sponsorship from Lotus, but Lotus still wants to call themselves Lotus regardless. Oh, Lotus.

    #199056
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    The thing with Sauber was a by-product of the 2009 political crisis. When the FOTA teams declared their intention to split, Max Mosley proposed a solution that involved reverting back to an earlier version of the Concorde Agreement. The teams agreed, but the problem was that thsi earlier version of the Concorde made it harder for them to change their anmes if they wanted to. Paired with BMW’s late withdrawal and Sauber’s last-ditch plan to save the team after the QADBAK debacle, the team was in a position where they had to carry the BMW name in order to retain their earnings under the TV rights pay-out.

    The exact situation with Lotus depends on what Bernie does with the new Concorde Agreement. I believe he is trying to reset the historical multiplier so that it is applied from the year 2000, and not 1950 as it currently is, in order to reward recent success more than past performance. If Lotus change their name again, they would be ineligible for what they would otherwise earn at the end of this season, but since they changed their name for 2011, it is unliely to affect things too much.

    #199057
    AndrewTanner
    Participant

    That was it, earnings, not championship position. Thanks!

    #199058
    Estesark
    Participant

    Thread closed. Discussion can continue on this website’s article, Lotus to keep name until 2017 despite losing title sponsorship.

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