Lotus F1 Racing has signed their first driver
Tony Fernandes tweeted the above message yesterday, confirming that Lotus F1 has signed on their first driver. He did not mention who the driver is. Our very own Fairuz Fauzy who has been linked with the team ever since it was given the green light to race in 2010 will serve as a reserve/third driver. Former Toyota driver Jarno Trulli was also rumored to join the team although there is no substantial information to back this up. Recently another driver was linked to the team: Kamui Kobayashi, also from Toyota. It looks like Malaysia’s seemingly unconditional love for Toyota (we buy Toyota and Toyota-linked Perodua cars in droves) even extend to our F1 team driver line-up! 
We eagerly await an official announcement from the F1 team.
November 16, 2009 @ 1:22 pm
oh..
November 16, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
Will it be Jarno Trulli??…he’s an experienced driver though..
November 16, 2009 @ 1:50 pm
I much prefer Kamui Kobayashi..
November 16, 2009 @ 1:52 pm
i prefer Kaki Furai.
November 16, 2009 @ 2:20 pm
He likes to keep everyone in suspense doesn’t he
November 16, 2009 @ 2:22 pm
I m in for Kobayashi!!!
November 16, 2009 @ 2:40 pm
Kamui Kobayashi is talented!
November 16, 2009 @ 2:43 pm
ha ha ha..
we do love toyota…
.
November 16, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
Kamui Kobayashi 4 sure
November 16, 2009 @ 3:05 pm
Exactly, keep on dreaming fools….
November 16, 2009 @ 3:13 pm
kamui kobayashi!!!!!
November 16, 2009 @ 3:28 pm
most probably Jarno… Najib will announce the line-up after the team secure their 2nd driver…
November 16, 2009 @ 4:10 pm
Lotus F1 main purpose is to promote 1 Malaysia…………..
Now they seems to promote Toyota instead..,,
November 16, 2009 @ 4:33 pm
i hope lotus F1 sign takeru kobayashi the hotdog eater champion. rather than kamui kobayashi who i think lacks experience.
November 16, 2009 @ 4:53 pm
good move hiring kobayashi
November 16, 2009 @ 5:42 pm
Kobayashimay be able to bring in more Jap sponsors and what’s more maybe cheaper salary.
November 16, 2009 @ 5:49 pm
toyota should be replaced with perodua…yeah perodua F1 team..
perodua is good with down-grading “engineering”.
save more money maa…
November 16, 2009 @ 6:04 pm
they use ex-toyota F1 driver only maa
not that they use any toyota tech
mr.tony fernandez is the guy who can turn 1 ringgit into 100 ringgit in a month.
1MF1T or LotusF1 or whatever the name is going to be the most profitable F1 team maa, very soon.
November 16, 2009 @ 6:38 pm
wow, our PM would be the 1 announcing the drivers for a supposedly private F1 team…….
November 16, 2009 @ 7:41 pm
kamui kobayashi!!!!!
gogogo!!!
November 16, 2009 @ 7:50 pm
in 10 ventures, you only hit 1 jackpot.. so, i’m not sure this time Tony will hit another jackpot… unless he do not promotes other ventures…:)
November 16, 2009 @ 9:30 pm
it is gonna be a no frills-F1 team, driver brings his own safety helmet, suit… everything…
November 17, 2009 @ 12:29 am
mercedes takes over brawn. finally some good news for f1, from comercial and popularity perspective.
November 17, 2009 @ 9:05 am
ngan,
That sums it up. The driver have to pay RM 15 in every pit stop for the drinks, add another 5 ringgit to clean up their pee. To get to the front grid, the driver pay extra (express boarding or whatever). Carry extra fuel, also pay extra hahah.
Dont forget the team will have to stay at Tune Hotel LCCT instead of Mandarin Oriental/Westin when they come to town.
November 17, 2009 @ 10:43 am
They have signed up Fairuz, but I think he will be the reserve driver. It was signed at an extraordinary location.
November 17, 2009 @ 11:35 am
Extraordinary location??? Do tell
Richard Branson style would be ON TOP of a hot air balloon.. not in the passenger basket
November 17, 2009 @ 12:17 pm
Hod Dog Gozilla owned Toyota midget !
November 17, 2009 @ 2:26 pm
Kamui Kobayashi!!
November 17, 2009 @ 2:44 pm
my vote goes to Kamui Kobayashi!!
November 17, 2009 @ 8:57 pm
velentino rossi………..
November 18, 2009 @ 12:18 am
tengku djan..?
November 18, 2009 @ 10:35 am
Tengku Djan only knows how to drift, lah.
November 18, 2009 @ 2:46 pm
he was seen sitting with narain karthikayen yesterday at an event in putrajaya
November 19, 2009 @ 9:01 pm
Though not suitable to drive in F1, Tengku Djan knows a lot more than just how to drift. As a race driver he is very quick behind the wheel in sportscar racing. Arguably the quickest Malaysian behind the wheel of a Lotus sportscar.
More than that he is an experienced chassis engineer. He worked for Porsche in Germany before moving to Lotus in the UK, moved to KL under Lotus then started Proton’s R3 division. He is well experienced as a race driver, race engineer and race team manager. Lotus F1 should recruit him to play an important role. This guy knows his stuff.
November 20, 2009 @ 7:29 am
I sincerely hope Malaysian F1 will finish top 10, let alone get a podium. Its the taxpayers money you are spending. Please don’t let the nation down and don’t become a laughing stock of the paddock and the racing world.
God bless You, Good Luck.
November 20, 2009 @ 9:35 am
perabih duit…toyota, honda pull out from competition…kita terhegeh-hegeh nak masuk…
November 20, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
It is not realistic to expect them to finish races in top10 in their first year. This applies to all the new teams. The best this team can aim for is to beat the new teams. They can then aim for better finishes and of course top 10 in subsequent seasons. It takes several years to be successful in F1. I would be happy if the results keep on improving from one season to the next.
At the moment for now at least it doesn’t look like they are using taxpayers money
November 21, 2009 @ 1:34 am
The amount of money it takes to just participate in F1 is huge. Since they are already commited so they can;t back out now. Avoid THE jambatan bengkok tragedy- the amount it takes not finishing the jambatan was more than the amount to just continue the project. Be focus on your goal and avoid mixing it with politics.
November 21, 2009 @ 7:02 am
I prefer Nick Heidfield
November 28, 2009 @ 12:22 pm
We all know Jacques Villeneuve would likely be one of the two drivers. He was visiting the Lotus factory yesterday.
December 4, 2009 @ 10:58 pm
well i recommend a driver like villeneuve or trulli maybe even raikkonen although he maybe more demanding but still he’s worth the price.but kobayashi i’m not so certain because just think about it so far i’ve never seen any really talented japanese driver’s no offence but japanese drivers are not that experienced in this field compared to some other drivers so i guess they should get a more experienced