Monday 14th December 2009

Lotus F1 Racing Announces 2010 Driver Line-up

Trulli and Kovalainen sign for Malaysian team

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The new Lotus F1 team has announced its driver line-up for the 2010 Formula One season. Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen will take the helm(s) for the Malaysian team in its inaugural year.

Jarno Trulli joins Lotus F1 Racing after Toyota’s withdrawal from the sport this year, fresh from a not-unimpressive eighth-place finish in the 2009 driver’s standings. Heikki Kovalainen migrates from McLaren, with Jenson Button taking his seat alongside Lewis Hamilton.

The news of the new line-up came from Malaysia's sports minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek, who also announced that Malaysian former A1GP driver Fairuz Fauzy has been confirmed as the team's third driver.

Commenting on the announcement, team principal Tony Fernandes said: “Trulli will bring us a lot of experience to develop the team. Heikki is a young driver with a lot of experience so I think we have fantastic drivers, with Fairuz as well. It is a wonderful mix of experience, youth and passion."

Despite this Fernandes remains cautious about the team's goals: "We are not setting any big targets; we want to at least be the best of the new teams."

F1 team wants to protect Lotus heritage

The news comes after Fernandes recently stated that he expects the team’s relationship with Lotus ‘proper’ to grow as time goes on, and he ultimately expects Lotus to buy in to the Malaysian government-backed team.

Thankfully, he is also clearly mindful of the fears of some Lotus enthusiasts about the possible impact of the two Lotus entities 'crossing over':

"I don't think we can claim any of the heritage, but we are very clear about making sure we don't destroy any of the prestige”, he said.

"We have an advisory council to make sure that we protect what has been built by Colin Chapman and the people at Lotus. We'll certainly celebrate it and work with it.”

[Frimley111R]

An excellent driver line up for a new team! Go Lotus!!!!

[soad]

We'll see how they get on. Should prove to be interesting over 2010 season.

[CooperD]

They've obviously gone for two experienced drivers rather than get a rookie in. Good luck to Lotus. It's great to have them back in F1.

[[AJ]]

2010 is going to be a very interesting season. When I first heard that Lotus were gunning for a place in next years constructor lineup I was very enthusiastic about it, but after reading that article I'm not so sure. Yeah the drivers are all well and good, but it does sound like the 'team' are just cashing in on the Lotus brand and don't have anything to do with the Lotus F1 team that we were all so fond of.

[DSM2]

[AJ] said:

2010 is going to be a very interesting season. When I first heard that Lotus were gunning for a place in next years constructor lineup I was very enthusiastic about it, but after reading that article I'm not so sure. Yeah the drivers are all well and good, but it does sound like the 'team' just cashing in on the Lotus brand and don't really have that much to do with Lotus at all.

It doesn't have anything at all to do with Lotus as we all know and remember it, other than using the name, does it?

I don't really understand the motives behind this, they can't seriously expect any success, and as for JT and HK, I think this is just clinging on to any drive they can get, which you can't really blame them for, I suppose.

[ThirdShift]

Pretty resourceful and reliable line up for a newbie team. If they can produce a semi decent car they will be right up there!

[130R]

Not sure on the wisdom of choosing two guys that seem to go backwards during the race ... Trulli is definitely fast though.

[kevin ritson]

Strong line-up for a start-up operation. Trulli has form with Gascoyne and they'll know exactly how fast the car is over a lap and Kovi has knowledge of two championship winning teams plus would do well in this environment. Not many drivers are going to look great in Hamilton's team but I think he's shown enough promise to deserve a second chance - Frentzen didn't do too badly when he first joined Jordan after being destroyed at Williams, did he?

[Agent Orange]

Tony Fernandes said:

"I don't think we can claim any of the heritage, but we are very clear about making sure we don't destroy any of the prestige”, he said.

I'm not a Lotus fan but I'm glad to read that comment. Nothing irks me more than seeing old names returning when for the most part its just branding.

[pits]

Hopefully they do it justice with either the green with yellow nose cone and stripe colours or JPS themed colours IE gold and black but without the tobacco advertising.

[roland82]

We all know you have o start somewhere, but honestly how can the 'protect the Lotus name' when they will probably be near the back of the grid all the time?

Maybe Im being too cynical and should that they are taking the chance. I think the Brawn story has given a bit of hope to all of the new teams and we never quite know exactly how the new season will go.

[soxboy]

I wish them all the best. In its latter years the Lotus GP team was often struggling around the back, I'd rather see somebody have a go at making a success of it than it lie dormant forever.

Direct link or not, I wonder how long it will take for there to be a Lotus Elise special edition to mark the debut? My votes on end February.

[mustard tab]

it fills me full of dread when for the name of Lotus when you read things like the Malaysian sports minister announcing the driver line up. this outfit has absolutely nothing, as far as i can see, to do with the original team. one of the most influential F1 racing teams in the history of the sport. This is badge engineering at its very worst.
i for one cant see them going too well, as they have not had too long to design the car, have two average at best drivers and a technical director who has had more jobs than successful cars. TBH i feel that its a great shame that the good name of Lotus was not allowed to rest in peace and not used to front a remote far eastern governmentally sponsored outfit. save money on employing consultants to spare the Lotus name, and spend it on engineering a better car under a new name. they would get more credibility if they called the team Malaysia F1 or something like.

[mascotpictures]

How sad. Unless I am reading this wrong it sounds like the Lotus F1 team really is just branding and has nothing tangible to do with Lotus, the Hethel factory or Colin Chapman's legacy. Very disappointed that Lotus could let that happen.

[Oddball RS]

Its not LOTUS and has nothing to do with them, its a name sellotaped on.

[jameswhitburn]

the lotus trulli train it is then ....

[SleeperCell]

You are all correct, this team has nothing to do with the old Lotus team and in fact is even named differently although I forget the exact distinction. This new one is basically a Malaysian team part owned by the Malaysian government and will be based in Malaysia (but based in the UK while they build their new factory near Sepang) and AFAIK will play the Malaysian anthem in the unlikely event they actually win something.

[Nickellarse]

I love those old F1 cars with the cushion under the drivers seat to bolster him up...

[EDLT]

On the BBC website they had this quote:
"[The team] shows our seriousness to be a world championship contender," said Lotus team principal Tony Fernandes.

Hmm.

[marcosgt]

Good driver line up - Hope to see Lotus go well.

M.