Lotus to return to F1 in 2010

[Gingertom]

BBC Sport

Lotus will return to F1 in 2010

Lotus are to return to Formula 1 for the first time since 1994 after being granted the 13th slot on the grid from next season.

They will line up as one of four new teams for 2010 - alongside Campos Grand Prix, Manor and US F1.

Current team BMW Sauber was awarded "14th place" in the championship, meaning it will be entitled to fill any vacancy arising on the 2010 grid.

F1's governing body, the FIA, said it wants to expand the grid to 14 teams.

"The FIA believes that a good case can be made for expanding the grid to 14 teams," read an FIA statement released on Tuesday.

"It will be consulting urgently with the existing teams regarding the introduction of an appropriate rule change to expand the grid to 28 cars in time for the first Grand Prix in 2010."

While the FIA said it had received an "impressive application" from the BMW Sauber team, it added: "However, given that BMW has announced it will withdraw its support in 2010, there are still uncertainties regarding the future ownership of the team."

Lotus, which competed in F1 from 1958 through to 1994, was also awarded its place ahead of Epsilon Euskadi following an intensive selection and due diligence process conducted by the FIA.

The team won seven constructors' crowns and six drivers' champions, including Jim Clark and Graham Hill, during their golden era in the 1960s and '70s.

In its new incarnation the team is a partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs and is being led by team principal Tony Fernandes, the founder and CEO of the Malaysian-based Tune Group which owns Air Asia airline.

Classic F1 - Spanish Grand Prix 1986
Mike Gascoyne - who has 20 years experience in the sport after working with Jordan, Renault, Toyota, and most recently Force India - returns to F1 as the team's technical director.

The team will be initially based in Norfolk, though its future design, research and development, manufacturing and technical centre will be purpose built at Malaysia's Sepang International circuit.

Their withdrawal from F1 in 1994 owed to financial pressures, but Lotus remains the fourth most successful constructor of all time.

[WillDAQ]

The team will be initially based in Norfolk, though its future design, research and development, manufacturing and technical centre will be purpose built at Malaysia's Sepang International circuit.

Lunacy to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if this gets delayed then killed. Who wants to work for a team knowing you'll have to move to Malaysia at some point.

[L2D]

I'm from Malaysia, and I found that very rude of you. You make it sound like its bad to move there.

[Gingertom]

Autosport

The Lotus F1 team has been awarded the 13th entry in the 2010 Formula 1 championship, the governing body announced on Tuesday.

The FIA said it had also received an "impressive" application from the BMW Sauber team, but given the uncertainty about the ownership of the Hinwil squad the governing body decided to give the entry to Lotus.

BMW was, however, given the "14th place" in case any vacancy arises on the 2010 grid.

The governing body added the it will look into expanding the grid to 14 teams, "consulting urgently with the existing teams regarding the introduction of an appropriate rule change to expand the grid to 28 cars in time for the first Grand Prix in 2010."

As revealed by AUTOSPORT earlier this month, the Lotus entry will be backed a company called 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd, with Tony Fernandes as team principal. Fernandes is the founder and CEO of the Malaysian-based Tune Group, owner of the Air Asia airline.

The FIA said Mike Gascoyne will be the team's technical director and that Lotus will use Cosworth engines.

The company is a partnership between the Malaysian government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs. The Lotus name will return to Formula 1 as a constructor for the first time since 1994.

Lotus will be initially based at the RTN facility in Norfolk, UK, some 10 miles from the Lotus Cars factory. The 50,000 square foot facility was originally built by Toyota for its initial Formula 1 programme and then used by Bentley for its Le Mans programme.

The team's future design, R&D, manufacturing and technical centre will be built at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit.

By Pablo Elizalde

[xkatieloux]

Oh dear, bad news for those trying to save the BMW team. Though I doubt that all of the new teams will make it to the grid, its still going to be a lot more difficult to find a buyer if they aren't guaranteed a spot.

And L2D, I don't think that was meant to be a slight against Malaysia, I think the thing is that most of the experts are based in Europe and its going to be hard to find F1-standard engineers who are based/willing to move out to Asia. IMO the same problem USF1 are gonna have if they base themselves in the USA, though I think I read somewhere about them having a European base as well.

[Hazardous]

I'm from Malaysia, and I found that very rude of you. You make it sound like its bad to move there.

He propably referred to having to move a country in the other side of the world, not Malaysia per se. And it's an entirely valid point as those with families are not likely to be thrilled about that prospect.

On the story itself, it'll be nice to see Lotus name back in F1, assuming they'll make it to the grid. Especially when it's combined with Cosworth. Now they only need to paint their cars dark green with yellow trim and they're set.

[melbournian]

I don't think people would be that unhappy...living as an expat in Malaysia rocks. There's a huge expat community too so it's not like you're going somewhere where no one speaks your language. I'm in the unique position of having parents from Malaysia but having lived there as an expat too, and you could almost be in Europe with the expat population.

And as a Chinese Malaysian, I am pretty damn excited right now

[bone]

I'm from Malaysia, and I found that very rude of you. You make it sound like its bad to move there.

it's as bad as asking you to move to england...you wouldn't neither
(i hope, the less imigrants the better)

[vikiradTG2007]

It's not so bad for BMW. If a buyer is found in time, then the FIA can change the rules to increase the grid to 28 cars.

[ladora]

What's the max number of cars allowed?

[Devon]

According to this the FIA want a 14 team/28 car grid.

FIA calls for 14 teams in 2010

15 September 2009

Formula One governing body the FIA is writing to teams in order to be granted permission to run a fourteenth team and therefore twenty-eight cars on the grid next year. The news comes as Lotus joins the fray although the FIA would happily accept what it describes as an 'impressive application' from BMW Sauber.

The Hilwil-based team is currently out of the sport next season following manufacturer BMW's departure at the end of 2009, although the FIA has accepted the team as a 14th entry. Currently, only 13 are permitted to join the grid and so the FIA is now requesting permission from all 2010 competitors to increase the size of the grid.

The FIA released the following statement on Tuesday:

'The FIA also received an impressive application from the BMW Sauber Team. However, given that BMW has announced it will withdraw its support in 2010, there are still uncertainties regarding the future ownership of the team.

Nevertheless, the FIA considers that BMW Sauber's application is of high quality and would constitute a competitive participant in the Championship. As such, it has awarded BMW Sauber the '14th place' in the Championship meaning that it will be entitled to fill any vacancy that arises on the 2010 grid.

In addition, the FIA believes that a good case can be made for expanding the grid to 14 teams. The FIA will be consulting urgently with the existing teams regarding the introduction of an appropriate rule change to expand the grid to 28 cars in time for the first Grand Prix in 2010.'

With the size of the grid increasing, F1 Racing magazine reports that the Paris-based FIA will modify post-qualifying Parc Fermé rules for next season. As some circuits do not house the space to fit all cars into one designated area after qualifying, teams will be able to keep cars in their own garages as the FIA installs surveillance cameras in order to ensure no tampering of cars takes place before the race.

Source

[Gman333-X-ferrari]

I'm really looking forward to seeing Lotus on the grid next year and the possibility of having a 28 car grid is even more exciting.

Hopefully, they'll stay true to their origins, in terms of livery etc.

[fbc]

Lotus back in F1? Oh hell yes! A potential 28-car grid?? It just gets better - provided we're not left with some duds at the back of the grid...

[WillDAQ]

I'm from Malaysia, and I found that very rude of you. You make it sound like its bad to move there.

Nothing against Malaysia in particular, it's just not part of the F1 'ecosystem'. If you're based in Malaysia a vast majority of the races become "fly away", teams in the UK (or at least Europe) can truck their cars to many races saving traveling time and expense.

Lotus will need to hire in existing F1 engineers to get started, most are based in southern England. The engine, gearbox & ECU all come from the UK. Just about all of the specialist subcontractors are based in the UK.

Hell even Force India are staying put in the UK.

Hence the idea that the team will get shoved out to Malaysia is a stupid one, which suggests the team is more of an executive toy for some Malaysian business men than a serious competitor.

I don't think people would be that unhappy...living as an expat in Malaysia rocks.

If you're a young engineer with a family it doesn't. Not only are you going to be uprooted for a foreign land, but you effectively rule yourself out for some team switch career advancement.

[Mercury]

I'm friggin chuffed about this Was always a big Lotus fan and I still think they're the most innovative team in F1 history. And agreed about the dark green colour.

As for the malaysian getting offended, chill dude, I doubt you'd be very happy to move to a different country half the world around for a job that might not last that long, it's not about Malaysia it's about the notion it self and I couldn't agree with him more there.

[rowd22]

An F1 team in Malaysia means at least one team is close to where i live.....
The way i see it, there's a potiential job opportunity, and i wont have to travel all the way to the UK to get into F1
Thats the plan...not sure if it will ever happen tho!

[stevanford1]

Needs one of the following paint jobs.




Also, they should put Bruno Senna in one of the cars.

[MP4/14]

28 cars?

Can all circuits cope with grid spots and garages?

Might be good excuse for some upgrades and new tracks.

Spa, Italy and Brazil from the top of my head are already pretty full.

[GraemeH]

I'm from Malaysia, and I found that very rude of you. You make it sound like its bad to move there.

No, asking 300-600 men to uproot their families and relocate them to the other side of the world is 'rude'.

[zephyrus17]

Lotus? F1? !