The Renault team has been officially renamed "Lotus-Renault" after Group lotus (that's the car company) bought a stake.
The iconic black and gold livery has also returned
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88616

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"He's a pain in the arse, but he's a quick pain in the arse." - Williams on Mansell

It is absoloutely ridiculous. The childish situation with the naming and who feels they have the real lineage is one thing, as really we'll still call them Renaults and distinguish them as such. However, the fact that they are both planning to run a black and gold livery is stupid and, to a certain, damaging to the sport.

It is sometimes hard enough for new fans to get to grips with the Red Bull, Toro Rosso livery and just adding to that problem will put people off. Maybe Bernie will step in with universally adimired common sense.

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"With half the race gone, there is half the race still to go"

I'd agree with tdex on this one, we can now potentially have Team Lotus-Renault and Lotus-Renault GP both with the same colours, it's totally stupid. I really hope Tony Fernandes manages to win his battle though as Group Lotus are just playing silly b's now. They had the opportunity to buy into/take over Fernandes team and now they do this! It's a real toys out of the pram moment.

I wasn't keen on Fernandes having the Lotus name to begin with but he and the team have won me over this year, I'd much prefer them to carry the Lotus badge than Renault tbh... what concerns me is will this affect Team Lotus ability to run with the Renault power plant or are Group Lotus now soley an engine customer and have no say on who else Renault (as an engine supplier) supply?

Good points, but it's worth noting that similar things have been done before.

In the early 80's both McLaren and Alfa Romeo ran in an almost identical red-and-white Marlboro livery.

Likewise in the days of customer chassis, companies like March etc would supply cars to multiple teams, and this would usually be part of the name on the official entry. Bizarrely Lotus themselves did this often - the first win for Lotus was an independent entry, not the Lotus team themselves.

And don't forget the times in the 1970's when Cosworth powered 80-90% of the grid, and XXX-Cosworth (or XXX-Ford) filled the majority of the entry list.

Is this new Lotus/Renault situation so different?

But you are right, it is absurd!

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"He's a pain in the arse, but he's a quick pain in the arse." - Williams on Mansell

Looks nice! Well nicer than the yellow and black.

Ooh err, this is going to be interesting. I've read that Lotus Racing v Group Lotus site and it would appear that the "under licence" statement is a bit of an untruth. Wonder what Team Lotus first response will be.

Here the link from Renault

Forgive me if I'm wrong but "Lotus" (the Group people) are only the championship sponsor so isn't the team still Renault?

We don't call McLaren "Vodafone" do we?

Car looks great - apart from the red endplates which are just wrong

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"He's a pain in the arse, but he's a quick pain in the arse." - Williams on Mansell

Their full name on the official entry list is Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, and many drivers use the full team name including sponsors when the are in "corporate mode".

So, yes it is right to call them Lotus-Renault. Or at least it's not wrong to call them Lotus-Renault

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"He's a pain in the arse, but he's a quick pain in the arse." - Williams on Mansell

I wonder what the Lotus badge is on the car. Team or just Lotus? Wish we could see it front on.

Regarding the "under license" thing, I believe that Tony Fenandes licensed the name from Group Lotus for 2010, but will not do so (or does not need to) for 2011 following the deal with David Hunt who owns the name/right to Team Lotus

So really the issue boils down to who owns Team Lotus - is it David Hunt or Group Lotus,

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"He's a pain in the arse, but he's a quick pain in the arse." - Williams on Mansell

Adam Cooper seems to think the first round has gone Group's way with the Malayisian big wigs supporting Group.

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"He's a pain in the arse, but he's a quick pain in the arse." - Williams on Mansell

More from Fernandez and Gascoyne on Autosport
http://bit.ly/dOcicu

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"He's a pain in the arse, but he's a quick pain in the arse." - Williams on Mansell

By having Lotus as the team sponsor, while Renault remains as the team/constructor name, it means Renault keeps the TV money they earned based on where the team finished in the 2010 constructor's championship.

If they change their name, Bernie classes it as a new entry (even if they are born out of the ashes of the old one) and they start from zero as a new team. UNLESS all the other teams agree unanimously to the name change, in which case they keep their old entry and all the millions of TV/prize money that go with it.

Do you think Tony Fernandez would agree to this name change? So by still being Renault (albeit sponsored by Lotus), they keep Bernie's money. The partial change in ownership is not relevant, as teams like McLaren and Williams have had partial ownership changes in recent years.

Remember the fuss two years ago when Honda became Brawn and some team bosses refused to allow them to keep Honda's TV money?

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"He's a pain in the arse, but he's a quick pain in the arse." - Williams on Mansell

With the same looking cars we can all begin to fear the Ledgardisms coming out next year.

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"With half the race gone, there is half the race still to go"

I know these are only mock up pics but at least they are using Lotus badges and not Team Lotus badges. Wonder if they are just trying to be tactful at this point?