@tonyfernandes and the #monaco Lotus position

This weekend there will again be the puzzling sight for non-Formula 1 fans of four cars circulating in a Grand Prix carrying the name Lotus.

Thanks to AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes' success in the High Court, his F1 team has been cleared to keep using the name "Team Lotus" after a challenge from Lotus Cars, which is a sponsor of the Renault F1 team (and Lotus parent Proton is a part owner of the team).
Fernandes bought the rights to the name "Team Lotus" from David Hunt - brother of world champion James - but Lotus Cars has tried to prevent him using it in F1 as they have their own Grand Prix aspirations (through sponsorship of an front-running existing team) as part of a major relaunch and attempt to return to high-end road car production.

But why tie up with another team when there was already a perfectly good one running under the name Lotus and one which the car division had initially sanctioned? The fact is that the Fernandes outfit, starting in 2010 with a cleansheet, is simply not going to be competitive quickly enough in the eyes of Lotus Cars. It's all very well having the kudos of a name in F1, but not much of a brand-strengthening exercise if the cars are rattling around at the back of the grid being lapped by road-car rivals like Ferrari. 

But Fernandes means business, and if he can repeat the success that his AirAsia empire has achieved in the low-cost airline sector, then the F1 big guns - and Lotus Cars - need to look out.

I'm sure Lotus founder Colin Chapman would be delighted to see his racing team's name being employed by an entrepreneur with the same go-ahead spirit he showed back in the 1960s when his green and yellow Lotus F1 cars were dominating Grand Prix racing with the legendary Jim Clark at the wheel (pictured above). As Chapman used to say: "if you're not winning, you're not trying hard enough."