Formula 1 chiefs have approved the name change requests that were put forward at  today's F1 Commission meeting in Geneva - bringing an end to the long-running  row over the Lotus moniker.
Following a lengthy meeting in Geneva on Thursday, sources confirmed that Team Lotus, Renault and Virgin Racing all received the  necessary support to be allowed to change their titles for the start of next  season.
 It means from 2012, Team Lotus will become known as Caterham, Renault will  switch to Lotus and Virgin Racing will switch to Marussia.
 The changes still need to go through the FIA's World Motor Sport Council  before becoming official, but this is believed to be a formality - especially  because FIA president Jean Todt is a member of the F1 Commission.
 There is not expected to be any public statements about the matter from any  of the teams involved until after the WMSC meeting - which takes place on 7  December.
 The decision to approve the name changes means that confusion over the Lotus  name in F1 will be brought to an end, following a long-running dispute between  Team Lotus and the road car company Group Lotus.
 In a bid to clean up the matter after lengthy court proceedings, an agreement  was reached which means that the Enstone-based Renault team will now be the only  outfit running the Lotus name.
 Team Lotus will make full use of the Caterham brand, less than one year after  the outfit's owner Tony Fernandes bought the sportscar manufacturer.

 
No comments:
Post a Comment