Lotus F1 Team was a British
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racing team. The team competed under the Lotus name from until , following the renaming of the former
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
team based at
Enstone
Enstone is a village and civil parish in England, about east of Chipping Norton and north-west of Oxford city. The civil parish, one of Oxfordshire's largest, consists of the villages of Church Enstone and Neat Enstone, with the hamlets of Cha ...
in Oxfordshire. The Lotus F1 Team was majority owned by
Genii Capital
Genii Capital (simply known as Genii and stylized as GƎИII) is an international financial advisory and investment firm, which specialises in brand management, technology, motorsport and a range of venture capital activities. It was created in 20 ...
.
Lotus F1 was named after its branding partner
Group Lotus. The team achieved a race victory and fourth position in the Formula One Constructors' World Championship in their first season under the Lotus title. The team was sold back to
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
on 18 December 2015. The Lotus F1 Team name was officially dropped on 3 February 2016, as Renault announced that the team would compete as
Renault Sport Formula One Team
The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...
.
Background
Origins
The team's Formula One history started in 1981 as the
Toleman Motorsport
Toleman Motorsport was a Formula One constructor based in the UK. It was active between 1981 and 1985 and participated in 70 Grands Prix.
Origins
The Toleman company was formed in 1926 by Edward Toleman for the purpose of delivering Ford c ...
team, based in
Witney
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
, Oxfordshire, England. In 1986, the team was renamed to
Benetton Formula
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000, the te ...
, following its purchase in 1985 by the
Benetton family
Four members of the Italian Benetton family () founded the Benetton Group S.p.A. fashion company in 1965.[Enstone
Enstone is a village and civil parish in England, about east of Chipping Norton and north-west of Oxford city. The civil parish, one of Oxfordshire's largest, consists of the villages of Church Enstone and Neat Enstone, with the hamlets of Cha ...](_blank)
.
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
won the Drivers' Championship with the team in both and . In 1995, the team also won the Constructors' Championship, with
Johnny Herbert
John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for seven different teams, winning three races and placing 4th in t ...
driving alongside Schumacher.
Renault purchased the Benetton team in 2000, and in 2002, they renamed it the
Renault F1 Team
The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...
. In both 2005 and 2006,
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...
won the Drivers' Championship with the team, and the team won the Constructors' Championship (with
Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian professional racing driver, also captain of the official ''Nazionale Piloti'' association football team (composed of the racing drivers). He has d ...
as their other driver).
Starting with the
Lotus E20
The Lotus E20 is a Formula One racing car designed and produced by the Enstone-based Lotus F1 Team for the 2012 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by James Allison, Naoki Tokunaga, Martin Tolliday and Dirk de Beer with Renault continu ...
, the team has recognised these achievements by placing three gold stars in the livery of their car, located just forward of the cockpit. At the end of 2009, Renault sold a majority stake in the team to
Genii Capital
Genii Capital (simply known as Genii and stylized as GƎИII) is an international financial advisory and investment firm, which specialises in brand management, technology, motorsport and a range of venture capital activities. It was created in 20 ...
. Since 2011,
Lotus Cars
Lotus Cars Limited is a British automotive company headquartered in Norfolk, England which manufactures sports cars and racing cars noted for their light weight and fine handling characteristics.
Lotus was previously involved in Formula One r ...
became involved with the team and the team was renamed, first to "
Lotus Renault GP
The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...
" for 2011 season, and then to "Lotus F1 Team" for 2012 season. When discussing the history of the organisation as a whole rather than those of specific constructors it has operated, the colloquialism "''
Team Enstone''" is generally used.
Lotus in Formula One
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More ...
, a sister company of Lotus Cars, competed in Formula One between 1958 and 1994, winning seven constructors' titles and six drivers' titles between 1963 and 1978.
The Lotus name returned to Formula One in 2010 through
Tony Fernandes
Anthony Francis Fernandes (born 30 April 1964) is a Malaysian entrepreneur. He is the founder of Tune Air Sdn. Bhd., which took over the first Malaysian budget airline, AirAsia. Fernandes turned AirAsia, a failing government-linked commer ...
's
Lotus Racing team, which used the name on licence from Group Lotus. Group Lotus later terminated the licence for the 2011 season, but Fernandes acquired the privately owned Team Lotus name and used it. For 2012, Team Lotus changed their name to
Caterham F1 Team
The Caterham F1 Team was a Malaysian, later British owned Formula One team based in the United Kingdom which raced under a Malaysian licence. The Caterham brand competed in the Formula One World Championship from to , following the acquisiti ...
, clearing the way for the
Lotus Renault GP
The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...
team to be renamed as "Lotus F1 Team".
History
2012 season
![012 Canadian GP - Romain Grosjean Lotus E20 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/012_Canadian_GP_-_Romain_Grosjean_Lotus_E20_02.jpg)
On 29 November 2011, the team announced that
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
would race for them in 2012 as he returned from a two-year stint away from Formula One which he spent competing in the
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
; Räikkönen signed for two years with a third year option. On 9 December 2011 the team announced that
GP2 Series
The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccle ...
champion and 2009 Renault F1 driver
Romain Grosjean
Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a Swiss-French professional racing driver, competing under the French flag in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Grosjean had previously spent nine ...
would race alongside Räikkönen.
At the start of the season, the team was
involved in a protest over the use of a "radical" rear wing concept on
Mercedes AMG
Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG, is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG. AMG independently hires engineers and contracts with manufacturers to customize Mercedes-Benz AMG vehicles. The company has its headquarters in Aff ...
's
Mercedes F1 W03
The Mercedes F1 W03 is a Formula One racing car designed by Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team for use in the 2012 Formula One season. The car was driven by seven time World Drivers' Champion Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. The car was ...
, later dubbed the '
F-duct rear wing' or 'Double
DRS'. The dispute was not settled until the third race in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
when the stewards unanimously rejected their formal protest and Lotus subsequently confirmed they would not appeal against the decision.
Lotus started the season strongly with Grosjean qualifying third in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
but first lap incidents in Australia and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
ruined his chances of his first Formula One points. In
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
Räikkönen was running in second until his tyres 'fell off the cliff' pushing him out of the points for the only time of the season. In
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
, Lotus achieved their first podiums of the season with Räikkönen very close to the winner Vettel and Grosjean behind in third. In
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
Grosjean was involved in another first lap incident but in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
he worked a one-stop strategy perfectly to take second position, his best Formula One finish. A race later in
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
Grosjean was running in second until a mechanical problem put him out of the race after a safety car period leaving Räikkönen to take another podium for second.
In
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
Räikkönen took 3 podiums in a row. In Hungary he and Grosjean had an inter-team battle after a round of pit stops. In the end Räikkönen finished ahead in second with Grosjean scoring his third podium with third.
At the
2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Grosjean was involved in a multiple car pileup at the start of the race, resulting in Grosjean,
Lewis Hamilton
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...
,
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...
and
Sergio Pérez
Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza (; born 26 January 1990), is a Mexican Auto racing, racing driver who races in Formula One for Red Bull Racing, having previously driven for Sauber, McLaren, Force India, and Racing Point. He won his first ...
all being eliminated from the race and
Kamui Kobayashi
is a Japanese professional racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) and in the Super Formula Championship for KCMG . He previously competed in Formula One, Formula E, the GP2 Series, and the ...
missing out on a possible podium after starting from the front row for the first time of his career. The incident was started when Grosjean collided with Hamilton on the approach to the La Source corner. After the race, Grosjean was issued with a one race ban covering the next Round at Monza. He was replaced for the race weekend by Lotus reserve driver
Jérôme d'Ambrosio
Jérôme D’Ambrosio (born 27 December 1985) is a Belgian former professional racing driver, motorsport executive and former Team Principal of Venturi Racing in Formula E.
He has previously driven for Marussia Virgin Racing and Lotus F1 in t ...
.
After a near win in Bahrain, Räikkönen took the team's first victory at the
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ( ar, سباق جائزة أبوظبي الكبرى) is a Formula One motor racing event. It was announced in early 2007 at the Abu Dhabi F1 Festival in the United Arab Emirates. The first race took place on 1 November 2 ...
. It was also his first race win after returning to Formula One. After finishing in the points in 19 of the 20 races, and achieving 7 podiums (including the win in Abu Dhabi) Räikkönen finished 3rd in the Drivers' Championship with Lotus 4th in the Constructors' Championship.
2013 season
![Kimi Raikkonen 2013 Catalonia test (19-22 Feb) Day 2-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Kimi_Raikkonen_2013_Catalonia_test_%2819-22_Feb%29_Day_2-1.jpg)
On 29 October 2012, Lotus F1 team confirmed that Räikkönen would be racing with the team in 2013. The news came after several weeks of speculation that Räikkönen had several other options for 2013 including other forms of motorsport. Romain Grosjean partnered him in the 2013 season. The 2013 Lotus, the E21, was launched on 28 January at the team's headquarters in Enstone, Oxfordshire, UK. The livery was a little bit different from the previous year's; this year Lotus has a black, gold and red livery, with more visible red as the sidepods, air intake, rear wing and front wing have red on them.
![2013 Italian GP - Kimi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/2013_Italian_GP_-_Kimi.jpg)
In the
2013 Australian Grand Prix, Lotus achieved a first-place finish for Räikkönen despite qualifying in 7th place, thus giving Lotus F1 the leading driver in the Drivers' Championship and second place in the Constructors' Championship. Romain Grosjean, who started the race in 8th place, finished the race in 10th and took one point despite having problems with his car.
After Räikkönen was penalised for impeding
Nico Hülkenberg
Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...
in qualifying and Grosjean failed to make Q3, the
Malaysian Grand Prix
The Malaysian Grand Prix (officially the Malaysia Grand Prix from 1963–1965 and 2011–2017 and Malayan Grand Prix in 1962) was an annual auto race held in Malaysia. It was part of the Formula One World Championship from 1999 to 2017 and it ...
saw Lotus sit only 10th and 11th on the starting grid. They ultimately finished 7th and 6th respectively.
At the
Chinese Grand Prix
The Chinese Grand Prix () is a round of the Formula One World Championship and was contracted to return in 2023 but will now not do so until 2024 at the earliest. It is currently held at the Shanghai International Circuit, Jiading, Shanghai, d ...
, Räikkönen qualified and finished 2nd, despite having to regain places after losing two at the start and having damaged the front of his car while battling Sergio Pérez for position; Grosjean finished 8th.
The
Bahrain Grand Prix
The Bahrain Grand Prix ( ar, جائزة البحرين الكبرى), officially known as the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix for sponsorship reasons, is a Formula One motor racing event in Bahrain. The first race took place at the Bahrain Internat ...
saw a bad qualifying result for both Lotus drivers, but as team principal
Eric Boullier had expected, the car had better race pace and both drivers subsequently finished on the podium. The race saw the same top 3 as
the previous year.
After first corner contact at the start of the 17th round of the championship in Abu Dhabi, Kimi Räikkönen announced that he would be undergoing back surgery and would miss the final two races of the season. His place was taken by Heikki Kovalainen despite initial speculation suggesting that Michael Schumacher would replace him for the United States Grand Prix, something which was ruled out by Schumacher's manager.
2014 season
![Lotus E22 front wing 2014 Singapore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Lotus_E22_front_wing_2014_Singapore.jpg)
The team undertook a management and ownership change ahead of the 2014 season.
Andrew Ruhan, a British property developer who had become co-chairman the previous year,
had loaned money to the team, and at the start of the year turned his loans into equity to take effective control of the company from Genii Capital.
In addition, Genii sold a 10% stake to
Yotaphone, whose logos would appear on the car in 2014.
The team's CEO left the team, as did team principal
Eric Boullier, who joined
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
.
Ruhan installed Matthew Carter as the new chief executive, who would run the team despite having no previous F1 experience.
Gérard Lopez became the titular team principal, and long-term employee Federico Gastaldi became deputy team principal.
Lotus kept
Romain Grosjean
Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a Swiss-French professional racing driver, competing under the French flag in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Grosjean had previously spent nine ...
for 2014, and
Pastor Maldonado
Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (; born 9 March 1985) is a Venezuelan professional racing driver, who competed in Formula One for the Williams (2011–2013) and Lotus (2014–2015) teams and as a Pirelli test driver until 2017. Before entering F ...
would join bringing sponsorship from
PDVSA
Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA, ) (English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as exploration and production ...
.
The team struggled throughout the season, finishing eighth in the Constructors' Championship compared to the fourth place they achieved in 2013.
2015 season
![Lotus duo in pit exit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Lotus_duo_in_pit_exit.jpg)
On 5 July 2014, Lotus announced that they would be switching to
Mercedes engines from the 2015 season, ending the team's 20-year association with Renault. Grosjean and Maldonado remained at the team, with
Jolyon Palmer
Jolyon Carlyle Palmer (born 20 January 1991) is a British motorsport commentator and columnist, covering the Formula One World Championship on BBC Radio 5 and F1TV. Prior to his media career, Palmer was a racing driver and the 2014 GP2 Series ...
and
Carmen Jordá being signed as test and development drivers respectively.
The early part of the season saw driver error and poor reliability cost the team important race results:
The
Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
was disappointing start for the Lotus team; by lap 2 both cars had retired. Maldonado retired on lap 1 after a three-car wide tussle resulted in him crashing out at turn two and Grosjean lost power on lap 2.
In
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, Grosjean finished 11th but Maldonado retired due to brake problems.
Grosjean finished 7th at
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, his and Lotus's best result since the
2013 United States Grand Prix
The 2013 United States Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race that was held at the Circuit of the Americas on 17 November 2013. The race was the eighteenth and penultimate round of the 2013 season, and marks the second running of the United Stat ...
. On lap 33, Pastor Maldonado, who had been running ahead of his teammate, missed the pit entry on lap 33 and lost time, dropping several positions. He then proceeded to spin his car on lap 39 as he attempted to make up for lost time, and on lap 48 had a collision with Jenson Button following a long battle for position, damaging his car and retiring with rear brake failure a few laps later.
Despite only qualifying 16th and 10th, by lap 41 of the
Bahrain Grand Prix
The Bahrain Grand Prix ( ar, جائزة البحرين الكبرى), officially known as the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix for sponsorship reasons, is a Formula One motor racing event in Bahrain. The first race took place at the Bahrain Internat ...
, Maldonado and Grosjean had been running in 7th and 8th places respectively, until an issue during the pit entry for Maldonado's last stop meant his car had to be reset and restarted, dropping him to 15th and promoting Grosjean to 7th.
In
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, both drivers had a great start from 11th and 12th on the grid to be running comfortably inside the top ten. Then on lap 4, contact between the two drivers left Maldonado with a heavily damaged rear wing and, despite a lengthy pitstop in order to reposition the wing, ultimately retired; Grosjean recovered to 8th with only minimal damage.
Maldonado qualified 9th for the
2015 Monaco Grand Prix
The 2015 Monaco Grand Prix, formally known as the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2015, was a Formula One auto racing, motor race that was held on 24 May 2015 at the Circuit de Monaco, a street circuit that runs through the principality of Monac ...
, but suffered from brake problems in the early laps and retired on lap seven.
Grosjean looked set for 10th despite a grid penalty, until an aggressive overtake attempt by
Max Verstappen
Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Belgian-Dutch Auto racing, racing driver and the 2021 Formula One World Championship, 2021 and 2022 Formula One World Championship, 2022 Formula One World Champion. He Formula One drivers ...
on the start of lap 64 sent Verstappen flying into the barriers and Grojsean into a spin. Grojsean ultimately finished 12th and out of the points.
In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, Grosjean and Maldonado qualified in 5th and 6th places respectively on a track where all Mercedes powered cars had a clear advantage over the rest of the field. Maldonado finished 7th after losing a place to
Hülkenberg at the start. Grosjean was forced to pit again after cutting his rear left tyre while attempting to lap the Marussia of
Will Stevens
William Stevens (born 28 June 1991) is a British racing driver, who formerly competed in Formula One, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Toyota Racing Series and the British Formula Renault Championships. In Formula One, he made his debut at the 2 ...
and dropped from 6th to 11th in the process, but recovered to take 10th place and nevertheless secured Lotus's first double points finish of the season.
In
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, Grosjean retired with gearbox issues while Maldonado finished 7th from 10th on the grid.
Both cars retired from the
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...
, after a late breaking Daniel Ricciardo forced Grosjean into Maldonado during the first few corners of the opening lap.
During the
Hungarian Grand Prix
The Hungarian Grand Prix ( hu, Magyar Nagydíj) is a motor racing event held annually in Mogyoród. Since 1986, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship.
History Origins
The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held on 21 ...
weekend deputy team principal
Federico Gastaldi confirmed that team owner
Gérard Lopez was in deep discussion with
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
board members in an effort to sell the team back to its former owners.
Lotus had received their allocation of tyres less than an hour before the opening session at the Hungaroring after Pirelli refused to release the tyres over unpaid bills, amid the team's growing financial difficulties. In the race, Grosjean finished 7th while Maldonado finished 14th after accumulating three penalties during the race.
Grosjean finished third in the
Belgian Grand Prix
The Belgian Grand Prix (French language, French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German language, German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula O ...
gaining the team's first podium finish since the
2013 United States Grand Prix
The 2013 United States Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race that was held at the Circuit of the Americas on 17 November 2013. The race was the eighteenth and penultimate round of the 2013 season, and marks the second running of the United Stat ...
. However, the Lotus cars were temporarily seized post-race due to a legal dispute with former test driver,
Charles Pic
Charles Pic (; born 15 February 1990) is a retired professional racing driver who drove in Formula One for two full seasons in and , racing for Marussia F1 Team in the first season and then for Caterham in the second season.
Early career
Karti ...
.
During the
2015 Japanese Grand Prix
The 2015 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2015 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 27 September 2015 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan. The race was the fourteenth round of the World Ch ...
, Lotus were locked out of their hospitality unit, stemming from unpaid bills from the race organizers in Japan from the previous year. On 30 September, it was announced that
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
had signed a letter of intent to buy a controlling stake of Lotus F1 from Genii Capital. This came after Lotus were bailed out by Renault after falling behind in income tax and insurance payments to the British Government. Seventh and eighth places in the race itself gave the team their first double top eight finish since the
2013 Indian Grand Prix
The 2013 Indian Grand Prix (formally the 2013 Formula 1 Airtel Indian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 October 2013 at the Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was the sixteenth round of the 20 ...
.
Purchase by Groupe Renault
On 21 December 2015 it was officially confirmed on the Lotus F1 Team website that
Groupe Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of ...
had re-purchased the Enstone-based team and plans on entering the season as the official Renault factory team. Renault appointed Jérôme Stoll as chairman and
Cyril Abiteboul
Cyril François Roger Abiteboul (born 14 October 1977) is a French motor racing engineer and manager. From 2013 to 2014 he was the team principal of Caterham Formula One team, and was the managing director of the Renault F1 Team from 2014 to 2020 ...
as managing director.
Sponsorship and livery
![Lotus 77 Sears Point](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Lotus_77_Sears_Point.jpg)
The Lotus F1 Team competed in a black-and-gold livery inspired by that of
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More ...
– the motorsport sister company of its naming and branding partner
Group Lotus – when it was sponsored by tobacco brand
John Player Special
John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901, the company merged with other companies to form The Imperial Tobacco Company to face competition from US ma ...
during the 1970s and 1980s. However, in April 2012 it was announced this sponsorship agreement had been prematurely terminated although the team would continue to use the Lotus name until at least 2017.
In March 2013, days before the launch of the new Lotus
E21, American conglomerate
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
pulled out of a reported €50 million sponsorship agreement with the team.
In 2014, again without a title sponsor, each car's title sponsor space was instead shared race by race by existing sponsors alongside temporary sponsors
Interwetten
Interwetten was founded in 1990. It operates in the field of online entertainment, offering its customers sports betting, live betting, a casino, a live casino, and games.
In 1997, Interwetten became the second company in the world, after Inte ...
(Germany and Hungary) and
Hisense
Hisense Group is a Chinese multinational major appliance and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. Televisions are the main products of Hisense, and it is the largest TV manufacturer in China by market ...
(Italy, United States and Abu Dhabi), as well as paying homage to the
El Greco
Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El G ...
exhibition at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Its sponsors included French car brand
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
(though during the 2015 season, the team had
Mercedes power), oil company and Romain Grosjean sponsor
Total (though not shown on the car in the 2015 season as the Mercedes engines used
Petronas
Petroliam Nasional Berhad (National Petroleum Limited), commonly known as Petronas, is a Malaysian oil and gas company. Established in 1974 and wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with all oil and gas reso ...
fuel), Chinese solar energy company
Trina Solar
Trina Solar Co., Ltd. (SSE: 688599, ), founded in 1997, manufactures, sells and does research and development on PV products, EPC and O&M. It also develops and sells smart micro-grid and multi-energy complementary systems and energy cloud-platf ...
,
Advanced Global Trading
Advanced Global Trading or AGT is an emissions trading and environmental consultancy firm headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and with offices in Bahrain, Doha, Zurich and Johannesburg. AGT deals in sourcing and trading of Verified Car ...
,
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of Business Applications, containing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM). Microsoft markets Dynamics applications through a network of reselling partners who provide speciali ...
, French fashion brand Japan Rags, luxury watch brand
Richard Mille
Richard Mille is a Swiss luxury watch company founded in 2001 by Dominique Guenat and Richard Mille, and based in Les Breuleux, Switzerland. The brand specialises in ultra-high-end luxury watches.
Company history Introduction
After studying m ...
,
Symantec,
Avanade
Avanade () is a global professional services company providing IT consulting and services focused on the Microsoft platform with artificial intelligence, business analytics, cloud, application services, digital transformation, modern workplac ...
and
Unilever
Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...
Personal care brands Rexona and Clear. The later two companies switching to
Williams F1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams and automotive engineer Patrick Head ...
for 2015. For the 2013 season Lotus signed a deal with the
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
group brand
Burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
energy drink and Pastor Maldonado sponsor
PDVSA
Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA, ) (English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as exploration and production ...
. For 2014, Lotus signed a deal with
Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is a Danish investment bank specializing in online trading and investment. It was founded as a brokerage firm in 1992, under the name Midas Fondsmæglerselskab (English: ''Midas Stockbroker Company''), by Lars Seier Christensen, Kim F ...
.
The team was previously owned by
Genii Capital
Genii Capital (simply known as Genii and stylized as GƎИII) is an international financial advisory and investment firm, which specialises in brand management, technology, motorsport and a range of venture capital activities. It was created in 20 ...
with property investor,
Andrew Ruhan having a two percent stake and Russian phone company,
Yota Devices having a speculated ten percent share in the company.
The company later on was majority owned by
Groupe Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of ...
, with Jérôme Stoll as chairmen and
Cyril Abiteboul
Cyril François Roger Abiteboul (born 14 October 1977) is a French motor racing engineer and manager. From 2013 to 2014 he was the team principal of Caterham Formula One team, and was the managing director of the Renault F1 Team from 2014 to 2020 ...
appointed managing director.
Complete Formula One results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
;Notes:
* – The driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
References
External links
*
{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom
Lotus in motorsport
Formula One constructors
Formula One entrants
British auto racing teams
British racecar constructors
Companies based in Oxfordshire