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It’s the kind of outside-the-box thinking one might hope for with a brand launching into Formula One racing for the first time. Although the Lotus name has been around in F1 since 1958, there’s an important distinction: Team Lotus and Lotus weren’t exactly the same group.

The name disappeared from the sport between 1994 and 2010 when it came back under license to Tony Fernandes, an entrepreneur best known for turning once-failing Air Asia into a successful publicly listed company. For the upcoming year, Lotus will run under their own name, while Fernandes’ team will re-emerge as the Caterham F1 Team.

The Caterham CT01 car made the news last week after its photos leaked a day early onto the internet. We don’t have much information on the Lotus car yet, but we do know that 2007 Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will be at the wheel.

Watch the teaser below.

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Fans of Formula 1 racing and Lotus must have spent this year feeling a bit confused regarding who they should support, since there were two teams going by the name Lotus.

There was Team Lotus, a private team founded by Tony Fernandes (who also owns Caterham Cars), and then there was Group Lotus which was run by Lotus (the guys who make the cars) and their parent company Proton.

The two teams fought over the naming rights. Group Lotus said that the name Lotus belongs to them, while Team Lotus said that their name has always operated in motorsports as a separate entity to the road car business.

Who gets what naming rights was up to the courts to decide, and the verdict is in. Group Lotus is to keep the rights to the Lotus name in motorsports, which means they now own the rights to the Team Lotus name also.

In what is being described as a amicable settlement between the two parties, the former Team Lotus, which is also owned by 1 Malaysia Racing Team, will rename themselves as the Caterham F1 Team for the 2012 season.

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said at the announcement that, “On behalf of Group Lotus and Proton, I would like to express how pleased we are that this matter is finally closed and we can now focus on looking forward to the future.”

The new deal will also lead to a working relationship between the two parties over future automotive projects.

Caterham, a company that started out life as a Lotus dealer, who got the manufacturing rights to the Lotus 7 and has been producing the car for over 30 years now, will now be its own force in Formula 1. Recognition of the Caterham brand will thus grow on a global scale.

What season of F1 would be complete without the off-track drama? The complex battle between racing teams Group Lotus and Team Lotus rages on, indicating that the previous ruling for the rights to the Lotus name didn’t end the dispute yet.

Turns out, the high court judge had given Group Lotus the go-ahead to use the Lotus roundel, the “Lotus” name, and the retro-tastic black-and-gold livery. But it hadn’t entirely ruled out Team Lotus’s involvement in the sport, and parent company 1Malaysia Racing Team can still use the name and logo “Team Lotus.” This, for Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, is a problem.

And as such, he is planning to appeal the ruling and eliminate the confusion: “it is inevitable that the similarity of the names Lotus and Team Lotus will cause confusion not only amongst F1 supporters and the wider public,” he said, “but also amongst F1 commentators who use the word ‘Lotus’ interchangeably for both teams.”

We hope this plays out with a clear winner on top, because what’s the plural of Lotus, anyway? Loti? Lotusesses?

Group Lotus, the carmakers, and Team Lotus, the racing team, have been battling it out off the track over the rights to use the name “Lotus.” And in a decision awarded this weekend, Group Lotus has come out on top.

Team Lotus traces its lineage back to Colin Chapman’s original Formula 1 efforts in 1952, and along the way have racked up some of the most successful victories in the sport. But the original team folded in 1994, and after a succession of flagrantly useless owners (including F1 legend James Hunt’s surviving brother) Tony Fernandes relaunched the team in 2010.

But a year earlier, the Malaysian government—which controls a stake in Lotus’s parent company Proton—threw its own hat in the Formula 1 ring in an effort to promote Proton on the world stage. They picked an experienced team name that would garner respect among the racing community: Lotus.

Actually, Lotus Renault GP, as the team was built from the remnants of the Renault F1 team which was restructured in 2010. Neither team has a direct connection to the 1994 team, but Team Lotus is backed by Tony Fernandes, while Lotus-Renault is backed by Genii Capital and Group Lotus plc—as well as the estate of Colin Chapman, which expressed a desire for Team Lotus to die a peaceful death. The high courts have agreed to this, as well: in a decision made this weekend, judges allowed Group Lotus to use the name “Lotus” in future F1 races, as well as revoking Team Lotus’s trademarks.

There’s some good news to come out of this drama: what do the Lotus-Renault cars look like? Well, when you see them at Monaco this weekend, they’ll be sporting some familiar livery: the famous black-and-gold scheme made famous by John Player Special in the 1970s. Retro-tastic.

Last month, the private Formula 1 outfit Team Lotus acquired Caterham cars. Now comes news that Caterham will be looking to expand on their product portfolio, while keeping Colin Chapman’s vision of lightweight cars.

Caterham is best known for building and constantly improving on the old Lotus 7 design. The company earlier this year launched an all-new additional model called the SP300/R, which was the first new model launched by the company since their ill-received Caterham 21 went out of production.

New owner Tony Fernandes has plans for a new range of cars, with technology trickling down from their F1 division. Ansar Ali, the man responsible for running Caterham over the years, is still in charge of all operations and wants to see the principals of the company to stay upheld in the new products. He said; “We will be looking at expanding with Seven-esque cars. Anything we offer will be an affordable supercar with wide appeal that complements what we’ve already got.”

Team Lotus is still in court with Group Lotus over the legal use of the name, and a decision by F1 courts will be revealed in July. If Team Lotus is forced to give up the Lotus part of their name, they will likely rename themselves Team Caterham, which would bring global exposure to the British brand.

[Source: Autocar]

Looking to establish itself as being more Lotus than Lotus, Team Lotus Enterprise has announced the acquisition of Caterham Cars – the self proscribed custodians of Colin Chapman’s ultra-light Seven sports car.

In case you haven’t been following the Lotus soap opera as of late, Team Lotus is not Lotus Cars (the company that builds vehicles like the Elise and Exige). No, Team Lotus is a separate company, the former racing division of Lotus Cars, that purchased the name in order to compete in Formula 1. It is currently owned by partners Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin.

The auto division (Lotus Cars) distanced itself from the F1 team and later announced its own return to the top tier of motorsports under the name Lotus-Renault.

This latest move is seen a evidence that Team Lotus is serious about competing with its rival of the same name, taking the battle from the track to the street. In a statement, Team Lotus has announced that the acquisition will bring a bright future for Caterham, with continued development of the Seven and investment in “exciting new models for the 21^st Century.” Included in that list is the SP/300.R sports prototype racer.

Earlier this year, Team Lotus, (a private company) has been in legal battle with Group Lotus (the manufacturer of Lotus cars) over the rightful use of the company’s name. Since the case is still in court, Lotus essentially has two teams in Formula-One at the moment.

Now news comes that Team Lotus wants to tie itself more closely with the Lotus brand by acquiring Caterham cars. As all car enthusiasts know, Caterham bought the manufacturing rights to continue producing the old Lotus 7 back in 1973 and ever since has been developing newer and faster versions of this basic sportscar.

If Team Lotus actually acquires Caterham cars, it will bring an interesting new twist to this automotive soap opera. Rumor is, a press conference will be held next week regarding this matter. We can’t wait to see this story unravel.

[Source: Autosport]

The Lotus F1 team has historically relied on power from three major engine builders; Cosworth, Renault and Honda. With Honda now out of Formula 1 racing and Cosworth’s powerplants providing unsatisfactory results, Lotus has turned to historic partner Renault for some mechanical motivation.

Starting in 2011, Lotus will use the Renault mills, which currently power the points-leading Red Bull cars, as well as the Renault factory team.  The team will also change its name to Team Lotus, which has historical connotations, and connections with the Lotus cars brand.

Lotus and Renault previously partnered in the 1980′s with their iconic Black and Gold John Player Special cars (pictured above), while certain iconic Lotus road cars, like the Europa, could be fitted with a souped-up Renault Gordini motor in place of the Ford twincam.

[Source: Autosport]

Lotus is returning to Formula One racing with a team run by the Malaysian government and a group of Malaysian investors.

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile selected the Lotus F1 Team to replace the withdrawing BMW team in the 2010 season. Lotus will be the 13th team, restoring the brand as an F1 constructor for the first time since 1994. Lotus confirmed the news at its press conference at the Frankfurt Auto Show.

The team will be headed by Tony Fernandes, founder and chief executive officer of Malaysian-based Tune Group, owner of Air Asia airline. Though the ownership is based in Malaysia, the team will initially be based in Norfolk, England, just ten miles from the Lotus factory.

The BMW Sauber team was appointed the 14th team, ready to step in should another team withdraw, though the FIA says it may increase the grid to 28 cars. In a news release, the FIA said BMW Sauber had an “application of high quality” and would be competitive even without the support of the manufacturer.

[Source: FIA]

Official release after the jump.

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In press release issued by Lotus Cars, the British exotic car maker takes issue with recent reports that a new Formula 1 team for 2010 will run under the banner of Team Lotus. The new team, however, says that’s not the case.

U.K.-based Litespeed Racing has already secured a sport on the 2010 F1 lineup and decided to run under the Team Lotus name, with the permission of the name’s rights-holder David Hunt.

When Lotus Cars Limited heard of this, it issued a release which clearly stated that, “Group Lotus plc will take all necessary steps to protect its name, reputation and brand image,” a thinly veiled threat that the automaker will seek legal action if Litespeed continues with its plans.

That all seems straightforward enough, except this morning a report in AutoSport suggests information to the contrary. An unnamed source inside the newly formed Team Lotus said, “We’ve kept Lotus fully informed of our intentions and are well aware of the need to protect its brand image. We look forward to having closer ties with it in the future.”

Is this all just a big misunderstanding, or is it possible that Lotus Cars has been made aware of Team Lotus’s plans and is not amused?

[Source: WorldCarFans and Autosport]