Lotus back in F1
Discussion
Andy T said:
I'm confused. The team is using the "Team Lotus" name and is being backed by the Malaysians who through Proton own Lotus Cars but the actual racing team is Litespeed not Lotus?
What is the connection between Lotus cars and Team Lotus F1? (apart from the name)
None at all. Team Lotus was a separate entity and the rights to the name were eventually sold to David Hunt who has had it for years. Last time he used it was during the awful tie up with Pacific in the mid-90's.What is the connection between Lotus cars and Team Lotus F1? (apart from the name)
Who cares, it's only a name. Most of the kind of people who buy Lotus cars will buy them whether they win or loss in F1 or indeed don't take part at all.
If they do OK in F1, it might get them a few more sales. If they become the new Minardi I can't see if costing them much in the way of sales as long as they don't get into a financial mess.
I can see that a company like Ferrari or for that matter BMW whose customer base is largely based on the image of their brand wouldn't want to be running at the back of the grid, but I don't think many people buy Lotus cars for the badge. Or are I being terribly naive there?
If they do OK in F1, it might get them a few more sales. If they become the new Minardi I can't see if costing them much in the way of sales as long as they don't get into a financial mess.
I can see that a company like Ferrari or for that matter BMW whose customer base is largely based on the image of their brand wouldn't want to be running at the back of the grid, but I don't think many people buy Lotus cars for the badge. Or are I being terribly naive there?
Edited by kambites on Tuesday 15th September 17:25
S Works said:
If there is not a shred of input from Lotus in the car, then it's nobbut a cynical marketing ploy. Sounds tenuous at best.
I'd imagine there will be, and no doubt more and more if they do well.Read on a US site that despite being out of F1 for ages, Lotus are still the 4th best achieving company in the game.All very interesting.
Grinnders said:
It's not really the LOTUS we know. Bit like the Ford team a few years ago masquerading as Jaguar, although the connection was a little stronger.
It's just a name.
Team Lotus and Lotus Cars are different businesses and have not been linked for a considerable length of time. IIRC, at one time, Team Lotus was owned by James Hunt's brother.It's just a name.
Seems that the Malays are wanting to do a bit of a Force India and over time use F1 to demonstrate their technical and engineering abilities.
This might increase recognition of the Lotus name but as far as impact and trickle down to road cars, I think this will have very little/no impact.
Grinnders said:
It's not really the LOTUS we know. Bit like the Ford team a few years ago masquerading as Jaguar, although the connection was a little stronger.
It's just a name.
Team Lotus and Lotus Cars are different businesses and have not been linked for a considerable length of time. IIRC, at one time, Team Lotus was owned by James Hunt's brother.It's just a name.
Seems that the Malays are wanting to do a bit of a Force India and over time use F1 to demonstrate their technical and engineering abilities.
This might increase recognition of the Lotus name but as far as impact and trickle down to road cars, I think this will have very little/no impact.
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