[MrGunjMan_]

I think they'd just expand the starting grid to 28, which most circuits would manage with ease. Would be fun at Monaco though..

Didn't the Principality build state of the art new pit facilities a couple of years back?

[MidwestMadman]

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=46894

According to this the FIA have added Sauber as a reserve team but are looking at expanding the grid to 14 teams to keep them in regardless o whether anyone pulls out. I really hope this happens.

[lopaayd]

I wouldn't complain at 28 car grids either to be honest, the good part of it for me really is not the idea of cars being left off the grid, but more cars in the first place. I've just always considered 26 a symbolic number where anything above it is a really great bonus, and anything below it (as it has been from mid-1995 onwards) is completely unacceptable.

[baritkello]

28 starters would be excellent. Most tracks could support 14 teams. If there are those which cannot then there is no reason why the number making it through qualifying has to be the same at every track.

[Toossehew]

I'm quite happy that this new team will be Lotus. Good luck to them!

[nickayary]

it will be great to see some new blood on track, having watched some of the BBC highlights of Monza 1988 and 1990 i was struck on Sunday by just how small the grid looks at the moment. however if we are just substituting quality with quantity its of no real benefit to the chmapionship - we have arguably the most competitive grid in history where from one weekend to the next any one of Brawn, Red Bull, Toyota, McLaren, Wiliams and now Force India look capable of potentially winning or at least making the podium, and you can probably throw Renault and BMW in there too. only Torro Rosso look like they are not capable of points at the moment.

to throw 3-4 new teams in who are tooling around at the back and being lapped 2-3 times won't improve the show, albeit it may be a way to assess some of the new drivers seeing as they can't test anymore.

i hope the new guys are able to do enough to not just be propping up the grid. that said, at least they should be able to fight amongst themsleves

[shieclulaweew]

You can never tell Rob. I mean, look at FI. Lots of people moaned about them and questioned why they even bothered and now look at them.

[Qnnoshxj]

Lotus has as much chance as any other team - big backing from Malaysia and Mike Gascoyne onboard. I still think 2010 is going to be a learning experience for the new teams, but the existing teams may struggle after scaling back of staff. And with the changes in regulations they could surprise a few people.

[maxtp]

Im very happy, Lotus is returning! Just ot get this straight though, are their official name Lotus? or is it Malaysia1 whatever bla bla bla that was said earlier. Whatever, hopefully everyone, including the media, will continue to call it Lotus. now some people may say this isnt lotus, it wont be the same, they will be slow, and another 'Forti' will have come along.

but, IMO, It is Lotus, a works effort, just because they have different owners does not mean they are not Lotus. we dont call Ferrari Fiat do we, just because Fiat own them. and based in norfolk initially, how more lotus can you get with that one?

they may be slow next year, especially with cosworths, but in the long run can be competitive, with good backing, and can be another force india. just a malaysian/norfolk sort of one. Force NorfolkMalaysia maybe, No, Just Lotus.

good luck to them, if done right, they can succeed. maybe not initially, but success often takes time.

[ancexiaepidge]

I haven't really followed the Lotus story in several years. But at one time, James Hunt's brother owned the rights to the Team Lotus Grand Prix team, while Proton owned the Lotus car company and Lotus Engineering. AFAIK, the racing team and the car/engineering company haven't been related in decades. Has something changed recently? Is Hunt out of the picture?

[maxtp]

Just ot get this straight though, are their official name Lotus? or is it Malaysia1 whatever bla bla bla that was said earlier. Whatever, hopefully everyone, including the media, will continue to call it Lotus.

dont worry, answered my own question, company name is malaysia whatsit, team name is Team Lotus, good!

[mirex]

How will Mario Andretti react about his old team whom he won the championship? Even though is not the same.

Will this team be a back-up plan for Marco?

[Toossehew]

however if we are just substituting quality with quantity its of no real benefit to the chmapionship

Well F1 isn't substituting anything at the moment as US, Manor, Campos and Lotus are being added to the grid. Assuming Toyota and Renault continue into 2010 and that the teams approve expanding the grid to 28 cars to allow Sauber to race (big assumptions), we should still have the quality to go with a larger quantity.

[beenBinybelia]

How will Mario Andretti react about his old team whom he won the championship? Even though is not the same.

Will this team be a back-up plan for Marco?

No.

[KinicsBonee]

so once again a team gets in because thy have promised to use cosworth engines. Nothing against Lotus, but I think those teams left out have a legitimate law suit against the FIa and Cosworth for unfair business practices and blackmail.

[Attaniuri]

Why choose a newcomer instead of an existing hi-tech team of Sauber for the 13th slot? Completely puzzling. Again some Max's dirty politics, like in June, when someone like Manor was chosen over ProDrive, Lola, Epsilon?

About team name: as Proton owns Lotus, then the name has at least some credibility, unlike that completely random Litespeed effort, but if this new team aims to be a "Malaysian team" in a way, they should drive under the name of Proton instead. With the name Lotus people have their own memories - legendary British team, which had nothing to do with Malaysia. In such cases this is when I'm clearly not fan of "old names coming back", because the name doesn't represent properly the identity of the new team. They have false identity, I wouldn't like to race under a name of "someone else", it would simply feel wrong. After their F1 effort people will still rather remember Lotus as a legendary British team, not as a random Malaysian group. But with the name Proton they could at least advertise their own car manufacturer somehow. Imagine if Super Aguri had used the name of Brabham for instance - in no way they would have created a likable and memorable image of a "a tiny and die-hard Japanese outfit, who is punching above their weight" like they in reality did.

Lotus wins a race and Malaysian anthem is played at the podium ceremony. How weird to even think about it.

[ElenaEvgeevnaa]

This isn't Lotus, it's 'Lotus'. No matter whether or not the team goes on to be highly successful, it is in no way the direct successor to Team Lotus of old, because of the lack of connection with the manufacturer. If the Malaysian group had purchased Lotus Cars, then fine, but it hasn't. And it will surely have to start as a team with zero victories, rather than adding to Lotus' previous tally.

[realnilkless]

Well of course it is not Team Lotus - that died with Chapman.

And the Lotus people from Hethel that carried it on did not shine -to put it mildly.

It does feel offensive that they will use the name Lotus - but maybe some sort of continuation from the past is good and there is no other way. And purists like myself do need to lighten up at vital times like these.

They bought the rights to the team and I think David Hunt and Litespeed and Gascoyne are all joined.

But with Gascoyne in the team there is a great link to the past anyway.

If this team is serious and will dedicate themselves to f1 then why not?

[tweriaroats]

ok hang on so the company that OWNS lotus isn't allowed to enter F1 under the Lotus name?

This is no different to the current Lotus cars that you can buy and own today. Are you suggesting that a brand new Lotus Elise is NOT a Lotus because Lotus is owned by the malaysians and not Chapman?

Its the same thing! Either Lotus is still Lotus despite its malaysian ownership, or Lotus died with Chapman, but you can't on one hand credit the current Lotus road cars and on the other hand discredit the new Lotus F1 team as they are both the exact same thing!

[Zpxbawtz]

Has something changed recently? Is Hunt out of the picture?

I think David Hunt sold the rights to use the F1 Lotus name to this new team and is not involved. He had owned the name for some time and of course linked it to the Pacific GP team in the mid-90's.

This isn't Lotus, it's 'Lotus'. No matter whether or not the team goes on to be highly successful, it is in no way the direct successor to Team Lotus of old, because of the lack of connection with the manufacturer. If the Malaysian group had purchased Lotus Cars, then fine, but it hasn't. And it will surely have to start as a team with zero victories, rather than adding to Lotus' previous tally.

That's going to be an interesting dilemma for the historians

It does feel offensive that they will use the name Lotus - but maybe some sort of continuation from the past is good and there is no other way. And purists like myself do need to lighten up at vital times like these.

Perhaps, but I think back to reading that Ross Brawn thought of bringing the Tyrrell name back to F1 before deciding on 'Brawn GP'. Tyrrell may have been bought by BAR, who became Honda, so it could be argued that there was a link to Ken's team but, as Ross decided, it was not right to use the Tyrrell name.

IMHO this new Malaysian team have less of a link to Lotus than Brawn do to Tyrrell.