Team Lotus and Lotus GP resolve naming dispute

Team Lotus, which raced in British Racing Green livery, had obtained the rights to use the name Lotus from Malaysian carmaker Proton, which owns the Lotus sports car company. The Malaysian-backed team entered Formula One in 2010 as Team Lotus.

Lotus-Renault GP, meanwhile, was renamed from the former Renault F1 team, which are based in Enstone, England. The team is owned by Genii Capital, and had been racing in the famous black and gold John Players Special livery as of the 2011 season.

Team Lotus had won the legal battle to utilise the Lotus nameplate for 2011, forcing the other team to append Renault to their team name, despite the French carmaker being solely an engine supplier to the team.

However, from the 2012 season, Team Lotus will be rebranded as Caterham, after Lotus Cars’ takeover of the specialist sports car maker. This paves the way for Lotus-Renault to be the sole Formula One team to use the Lotus name.