Chequered flag for Renault as Lotus takes major stake

As has been expected for the past few months, French team Renault will not compete in the 2011 Formula One World Championship. The Lotus Group has taken a major stake in the French team, which will be renamed Lotus Renault GP for the upcoming season.

By News Wires (text)

AFP - The Lotus group has taken a major equity stake in the Renault Formula One team, which will be renamed 'Lotus Renault GP' for the 2011 season.

Group Lotus plc will acquire a major equity stake in the team from Genii Capital, the organisations said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The partnership between Lotus and Genii brings the ability to quickly incorporate new technologies from F1 cars into Lotus road cars including hybrid technology, Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS), aero advancements and lightweight materials," they said.

"Genii, an investment holding company with a portfolio of automotive technologies, bring non-F1 technologies such as lightweight braking systems, variable compression engine technology and on board software systems to the partnership."

Eric Boullier, head of the Renault F1 stable, called the move by Lotus, owner of the Malaysian Proton car brand, an "enormous boost".

"It's with a big smile that I see Lotus coming. It's excellent news and an enormous boost," Boullier told AFP.

"To have a new principal sponsor for the coming seven years brings us a long-term stability and vision that you rarely see in Formula One. It's what we wanted."

Boullier said discussions with Lotus had started "last summer", and that the sponsorship would involve a "serious" sum of money coming in for the team.

"To position yourself as a top team, you must have means in the short term, medium term and long term," he said.

"If we say to our employees, 'You'll be fired if we don't win', they won't be motivated. (The deal with Lotus) allows them to be more creative."

While Renault are no longer the owner of the Formula One team, the French car manufacturers have granted permission for their name to be used and will continue to provide the engines.

Boullier insisted that the newly-named team would be gunning for "podiums and victories" next season.

Robert Kubica, who finished eighth in the drivers' standings last season, has been confirmed for 2011, but the fate of team-mate Vitaly Petrov has not yet been determined, he said.