Fernandes: Lotus-Renault is a Renault
Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes has hit out at Group Lotus ahead of Monday's hearing, saying they have as much right to the Lotus name as he does.
Team Lotus and Group Lotus, who recently invested in the Renault F1 team, will head to the London High Court next week, seeking a summary judgment over the Lotus name. Both parties believe they have the rights to the Lotus name.
"Let's get a few things straight," Fernandes wrote on Twitter.
"You set up a separate company from a car company to protect the car company from racing's ups and downs; company goes into liquidation; bought by David Hunt; 16 years: no racing; team bought from David Hunt by Nasa, Din and Tony.
"We are no different from Ron Dennis at McLaren. Ron Dennis didn't start McLaren, Bruce McLaren did. Proton and Dany Bahar (Group Lotus CEO) didn't start Group Lotus, Colin Chapman did. What's the difference? Proton own Group Lotus and Din, me and Nasa own Team Lotus.
"Lotus-Renault is a Renault, end of story. McLaren is McLaren, not Vodafone, and Mercedes is Mercedes, not Petronas Mercedes or a Petronas car."
The war is expected to be decided next week with Fernandes confident that the "good always win."
However, he does concede that beating Lotus-Renault out on the track in 2011 will be a step too far for his team - for now.
"We won't be faster than Renault. But we are only one year old. Takes time to build a tree. We are building the right tree."
Credit: PlanetF1.com (www.planetf1.com)
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