Renault Livery Given All-Clear

Renault have confirmed that they have been given permission by Quebec authorities to use their current colour-scheme at the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend.

There were concerns that the black and gold livery, which is based on the highly succesful John Player Special sponsored black and gold Lotus cars of the 1980's, carried subliminal tobacco advertising - which is banned in Canada as it is in many Countries Worldwide.

However, Renault boss Eric Boullier confirmed that the authorities had "accepted the fact that Lotus Renault GP receives no direct or indirect financing from the industry in question."

For more on this, visit www.autosport.com

Lotus vs Lotus - Conclusion

To recap. Group Lotus (the car company, who sponsor the Renault F1 team) took Team Lotus (the 1Malaysia racing team, who run the Green and Yellow F1 cars) over the use of the "Team Lotus" name, which they claim the 1Malaysia team do not have the right to use.

In turn, Team Lotus took Group Lotus to court, as they prematurely cancelled an agreement with Team Lotus on the grounds of trademark infringement.

The judges decision - that 1Malaysia do have the right to continue operating under the Team Lotus name, and that Group Lotus were within their right to cancel their agreement for the reasons they did.

So to summarise, it appears to be a stalemate. Months of arguments, bitterness and disagreements, and nothing has really changed. It is understood however, that Group Lotus are contesting the decision.
To make things a bit easier, we will now be referring to the black and gold cars as Renault's, and the green and yellow cars as Team Lotus.

For more information on this story, visit www.autoblog.com

Group Lotus have now announced that they may have to make as many as 99 redundancies from their British base in Hethel, Norfolk. However, this is likely to have more affect on the road car operations.

For more on this story, visit www.eveningnews24.co.uk

Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes, however, has announced that he is in early stage talks over a possible purchase of his favourite football team, West Ham United.

For more updates from Mr Fernandes, follow @tonyfernandes on Twitter.

Hamilton Sets New Record

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton set the record at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday for becoming the driver to start the most Grand Prix for just one team.

The record was previously held by Jim Clark, who drove in 72 races for Lotus prior to his death in 1968.

Hamilton, who is now entering his fifth season in Formula One has now raced in 73 Grand Prix for the Woking-based McLaren team.

The 26-year-old former World Champion said that he felt "very humble" to have surpassed Clark's record.

For more, visit www.telegraph.co.uk

New Twist In The Lotus v Lotus Saga

On the day that the (Team) Lotus v (Group) Lotus courtcase was due to begin, a new disagreement has broken out between Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes, and the man who at one stage appeared to be their trump card in the whole disagreement, David Hunt.

Hunt, the brother of former Formula One star James, bought the rights to the Team Lotus name when the team folded in the mid 90's, and vowed to one day return to the team to a "worthy custodian" who could help return the marque to the front of the grid.

However, Hunt has now claimed that Fernandes has tried to renegotiate on an agreement which they made following the completion of the 2010 season.

"He (Fernandes) apparently 'changed his mind' at the 11th hour, by his own admission, now that I've done so much work on his company's behalf, and he's trying to renegotiate by offering new terms which are, frankly, ludicrous,".

Team Lotus have strongly denied these claims.

"Team Lotus has an agreement with David Hunt which was signed by both parties,"

"David Hunt has tried to renegotiate that agreement, which Team Lotus is not prepared to do."

These unfortunate events may result in a further court case for Team Lotus, who will start their second season in Australia this weekend. Whatever the final decision of the court may be, we can only hope that it will not affect the team's on-track performances.

For more on this story, visit www.telegraph.co.uk

Lotus v Lotus

Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes has declared his team the victors in the first of several legal battles against Group Lotus.

The date for their main court battle regarding team names has now been brought forward, so a decision could even be made before the Australian Grand Prix.

For more information, follow @tonyfernandes on Twitter!

Lotus Renault Confusions

The Lotus-Renault team (formerly Renault), have today released images of their 2011 livery, and it's a very stylish black and gold
However, The Lotus-Renault team (formerly Team Lotus) had previously confirmed that they had planned to use a classic black and gold livery for the coming season!.
Something may have to give here, as otherwise it may be a little confusing!

Full story here www.renaultf1.com