Lotus in Secret Talks with Renault regarding 2011 Engine.

[Bibs]

News Article

[molemot]

A topflight engine?? Can't come soon enough. THEN we'll see what this latest Lotus is made of...and plenty of time to get the chassis right for the new motor, too.

[Simon350S]

Its a shame Cosworth have been so pants, will be nice for them to have a decent engine, theres only so much you can do to your car but it wont go any faster than the engine will push it!

[Bibs]

Is there any foundation to the road car tie-in? Lotus have recently had Cosworth tune the Evora engine, I'm not sure what Renault engines would fit into the road car line up?

[Simon350S]

Twingo lump? its a serious goer thats for sure.... Could be a contender for the new Esprit!

Its all well and Good cosworth tuning their engines but they are trying to build a reputation in F1 and having a second rate engine doesn't do the brand image for Lotus any real good at all.

Cosworth could be much stronger next year but they are a long way off competitiveness, even with the immense amout of feedback they must be getting due to SO many customer engines in use...

[Bazza 907]

Renault used to supply Engines for the 'old' Lotus Europa until the Twin Cam came on stream in 1972 (?) so it wouldn't be the first time.

Could be great news

[ads_green]

As long as it's not gearboxes ;-)

IIRC all the new teams had to use Cosworth (Mad Max strikes again) which is one of the public reasons prodrive didn't get a place.

[simonb]

Its a shame Cosworth have been so pants, will be nice for them to have a decent engine, theres only so much you can do to your car but it wont go any faster than the engine will push it!

Last couple of races have been rather god for Williams, with that pants engine. Cosworth seem to have a little more commitment to F1 that Renault. Seems a shame to be promoting the Cosworth link one month, then looking elsewhere the next

[wookiecj]

For me, this is a 'head vs heart' thing.....

Renault would be the head choice with Cosworth the heart choice. (Marcos and Cosworth are spiritually linked by the two brothers Frank and Mike Costin respectively)

It would be great to see Cosworth up their game and provide another British firm with success on the top flight of Motor racing. However, given the current engine development freeze mandated by the regulations their hands may be tied at present.

[fmxa]

Drop in the Renault, get the aero worked out and we're on our way

[TAR]

Not much of a secret now then!!

[uk08462]

Negotiations are with David Hunt on the Team Lotus name; he owns it, not Classic Team Lotus.

[NedaSay]

Lotus cars could enjoy some of Renault-Nissan engine tech 4L-V6-V8! But Toyota engines are not to shabby when it comes to tech they even have a V10!

Lotus Racing would enjoy a top team engine but Renault are rarely the most powerful although they are frugal. However Cosworth has an advantage, it comes for a very cheap fee pretty much paid by BE. The Renault will be more expensive. The Cossies have done good for Williams! The problems at Lotus are unfortunately gearbox related which is provided by Xtrac. Next year gearbox will be homemade so the problem should be solved and then will see!

I'd personally stick with a 'custom spec' Cossie with premium treatment (i.e full partnership). Especially if Group Lotus confirms the tie in Toyota powered/Cosworth tuned. The car is slow cause its heavier and more conservative! Next year car should be up to par with the midpackers! What is better third wheel at Renault (Redbull, and Renault team will get premium treatment while we are a client) or partnership at Cosworth on par with Williams.

Either way Proton Berhad/Group Lotus will want a say in this! I personally like the Sound of Lotus Cosworth they sort of belong together. Lotus Renault is cool but a Renault engine in my Elise won't rock my world even the pretty awesome R24 engine found in the Megane is not that hot!

By the way I chickened out twice on buying a 2002 Elise! it had a Rover engine and I think I'd rather the Toy engine. Was I right or am I a freakin chicken-frog?

[DanR]

I'd like to see Lotus stay with Toyota motors. More so now because of their partial Subaru ownership. Those boxer 4 and 6 cylinder motors, with their low CoG, allow the type of chassis dynamics Lotus revels in. Plus the transaxle issues could be resolved for a long time as well. That conection gives Lotus access to a wide choice of four, six, eight and ten cylinders.

[USAndretti42]

This rumour has been going around for a while being consistently denied by all on the Lotus side which means nothing, of course. Tony Fernandez said the rumours were an indication that Lotus were doing so well that other engine suppliers want to get in on the act.

I think many of you are being hard on the Cosworth engine. It is far from pants. It does have a couple of issues, apparently in that if loses too much power over its life and has some driveability problems. Like the Lotus car, it would benefit from some more on-track testing, I guess.

To say that the car is slow just because of the engine is ridiculous. You need a whole host of power to make up for a little lack of downforce, and I'm pretty sure the Lotus is not the lightest car on the grid. With such a short lead time from pressing go to getting on track, the team had no choice other than to go for strong and reliable rather than pushing the limits on weight.

Neda is right when he points out that the Cossie is probably a lot cheaper than a Renault (developed by an ex-Cosworth man, by the way) but I'm not so sure that it's subsidised by Bernie. Cosworth is renowed for doing for 10p what costs others a pound.

Personally, I hope that the FIA lets Cosworth modify the engine to deal with its problems and that Lotus stick with it (as Williams are supposed to be doing) and are successful together.

[Bibs]

I'm pretty sure that I've read the car is now below minimum weight so they can use ballast to bring it back up to the requirements. This means that they can move the ballast where they like to have a positive effect on the handling of the car.

[Exploded]

Bibs, you should change the last paragraph of your article.

There is also talk of Lotus Racing being far along in discussions with Classic Team Lotus and presumably James Hunt to rebrand the team to 'Team Lotus' as they were under founder Colin Chapmans' reign.

First of all James Hunt died in 1993, it's his younger brother David who owns the rights of the name Team Lotus.

So there are no negotiations with Clive Chapman. It's sad to see that Clive is still selling jackets with the name Team Lotus on it while he is not entitled to do so. Mr Hunt's lawyers have notified him several times, as the did with Tony Fernandez. Clive always pretends that he is Team Lotus, while he is not. Where was he when Lotus went in receivership at the end of 1994?? If someone has to pay, you can't find Clive any where, and when you can cash, he's always the first in line.

Lotus Racing was selling T shirts and books, claiming they were going to their 500th GP in Valencia, while Lotus Racing has nothing to do with Team Lotus. So I think Fernandez has shot himself in his foot and now is forced to make an agreement with mr Hunt, as they are claiming what isn't theirs. They should be ashamed of themselves.

[Bibs]

[simonb]

Clive Hunt's team Lotus were developing the type 112 F1 car. Given that numerical, I think there was a tie in to Lotus Cars & Chapman's company anyway. In reality I do not think that Hunt could sell the rights and another company enter F1 as Team Lotus, that would be nonsense.

intelectual Property Rights lawyers would have a good year

[NedaSay]

Exploded I have to disagree with you. Clive does not says that he is Team Lotus. The name of his company is Classic Team Lotus! If David Hunt owns the brand Team Lotus, he doesn't own any of the history: cars, employees.... This Legacy is Clive to carry not David Hunt! The only thing Hunt did with the Lotus Brand was a shameful branding of the Pacific Racing team as far as I can remember! I do think that Hunt should negotiate with Proton Berhad/Group Lotus to return the brand to its logical if not rightful owner!

Lotus Racing entered into negociation for the name before the season even started. They were turned down therefore the used the name Lotus Racing. Yes Tony Fernandes claimed it was the "Lotus" brand 500th GP. That is not untrue is it?!

[Beaujolais Dom]

Bibs, you should change the last paragraph of your article.

There is also talk of Lotus Racing being far along in discussions with Classic Team Lotus and presumably James Hunt to rebrand the team to 'Team Lotus' as they were under founder Colin Chapmans' reign.

First of all James Hunt died in 1993, it's his younger brother David who owns the rights of the name Team Lotus.

So there are no negotiations with Clive Chapman. It's sad to see that Clive is still selling jackets with the name Team Lotus on it while he is not entitled to do so. Mr Hunt's lawyers have notified him several times, as the did with Tony Fernandez. Clive always pretends that he is Team Lotus, while he is not. Where was he when Lotus went in receivership at the end of 1994?? If someone has to pay, you can't find Clive any where, and when you can cash, he's always the first in line.

Lotus Racing was selling T shirts and books, claiming they were going to their 500th GP in Valencia, while Lotus Racing has nothing to do with Team Lotus. So I think Fernandez has shot himself in his foot and now is forced to make an agreement with mr Hunt, as they are claiming what isn't theirs. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Ow, saucer of milk, table 2!

Personally, I think what Clive and his company has done in terms of maintaining the heritage of the old F1 cars is fantastic. Don't recall anyone else (whatever their surname) stepping up to the plate to do so.

I completely fail to see why Tony Fernandes or anyone at Lotus Racing should be "ashamed of themselves", and they have always been clear (and careful) in what they have said publicly. They should only be ashamed if they fail to achieve results worthy of the marque (and they should be allowed a realistic timeframe within which to do so).

[espritmania]

I gather the talks are not secret any more??

[USAndretti42]

Article about this very topic on today's Joe Saward blog in which he reports rumours that Fernandes will buy the Team Lotus name from David Hunt.

He goes on to speculate that he also intends to buy Keteringham Halll and states his belief that it would be a good thing if Fernandes were to buy Lotus Cars or even Proton as he did such a good job of turning what was a government-owned airline into the successful Air Asia.

Who knows? It would be something to have the F1 Team and car company under the same owner again.

[Bibs]

I've a lot of admiration for Tony Fernandes, he's quiet an inspirational guy!

[molemot]

I love the idea of "racing team buys car manufacturer" rather than the other way round....would make a change!!