Lotus Returns To F1 In 2010

Lotus, one of the most storied names in the history of motorsports is being reborn and will return to Fromula 1 racing for the 2010 season. The team, orginally founded by the late, great Colin Chapman last race in F1 in 1994, and this time around they are being funded by a Malaysian concern and will join Campos GP, Manor and US F1 as one of four new teams for 2010.

The "new" team will be initially based in Norfolk, England but in the future the plans are to relocate the design, research and development, manufacturing and technical centre to Malaysia's Sepang International circuit. Usually, basing an F1 team outside of Europe (or even England for that matter) hasn't worked so well, but with the new Lotus joining the US F1 effort in basing themselves elswhere, maybe this time it will play ot for the better.

The new incarnation of Lotus is a partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs. Tony Fernandes, the founder of the Malaysian-based Tune Group and owner of Air Asia airline, will be the team principal. The team's technical director will be Mike Gascoyne - who has 20 years experience in the sport after working with Jordan, Renault, Toyota, and most recently Force India.

"We are not just a small new team, we have the possibilities to be a very substantial team. And the FIA recognise that, combined with the name and that we're also a team based outside Europe," Gascoyne told BBC Sport.

Gascoyne added, "Next year will be a huge challenge… we will be releasing the car late, and that has reliability aspects. But we'll target being the best of the new cars on the grid and I would hope by mid-season we are challenging the bottom rung of the current teams. That's achievable."

The other question hanging over Lotus will be the level of involvement of Lotus Cars, the original company behind Lotus who are now owned by Malaysian carmaker Proton. Gascoyne defered, saying "That has to be defined and it's under discussion with Proton and Tony Fernandes.

Source: BBC. Photos from Flickr users lemoncat1 and al_green.