If it looks like a pack of cigarettes, it must be a F1 car. Of course that’s quite a ludicrous proposition, even if we’ve all seen F1 cars smoking, but apparently a rather bizarre allusion along those lines is being bandied about with a certain choice of livery, in this case Lotus-Renault GP’s.

It has all to do with the choice of the black base scheme with gold outlines, or not so much with the colours themselves – well, can’t have a car in white and red then, can we? – but rather the fact that the livery, officially unveiled at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham last week, derives its inspiration from the John Player Special-Lotus colours worn in the glory days.

Such nostalgia has been alluded to, in a big way, so there’s no denying that it’s a case of resurrection and not just picking black and gold out from the colour palette coincidentally or because it looked, well, pretty.

It is this intimation that may cause problems for the team in June at the Canadian GP in Montreal. A news report from The Globe and Mail in Toronto says that the livery may run afoul of the strict anti-tobacco advertising laws in place in Canada.

The point is, if the car looks even remotely similar to a cigarette pack it’s quite likely to violate Canada’s ban on tobacco advertising, even if the colour scheme has no connection to the former sponsorship or the John Player Special brand owner (in this case, Imperial Tobacco), the paper reports.

A Health Canada spokesperson said that “tobacco inspectors would need to fully review to assess whether a violation of the Tobacco Act has occurred” should a car painted to resemble a cigarette pack attempt to do the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The Act prohibits the promotion of tobacco products or tobacco product-related brand elements in Canada, except as authorised by the Act or regulations, and its definition of promotion is “a representation about a product or service by any means, whether directly or indirectly, including any communication of information about a product or service and its price and distribution, that is likely to influence and shape attitudes, beliefs and behaviours about the product or service.”

Such is the level of strictness that the black and gold colours of the John Player Special brand, which is sold in Canada, can’t even be displayed on Imperial Tobacco Canada’s website where it describes the brand. No pictures, no packaging, no brand colours, simple as that.

All this, naturally, arguably – or unarguably – means that the inspired-livery then could seriously fall short of getting through the gates if someone decides to get dictatorial about it. An alternative would be for Lotus-Renault GP to deploy an alternate colour scheme for Canada, but then FIA regulations stipulate that both team cars must be identical and sport the same livery for the entire season. Talk about getting a puff out of things.

Lotus-Renault GP has unveiled the finalised livery for its 2011 car at the Autosport International Show in UK. While the revived iconic black and gold colour scheme (with some splashes of red to accommodate oil supplier Total) is final, it was shown on last season’s R30 – the R31 will be launched in Valencia on January 31, a day before official pre-season testing kicks off.

As all of us know, Group Lotus, which is fully owned by national carmaker Proton, has bought into the Renault team and is now a title sponsor of the Enstone outfit, much like what Vodafone and Petronas is to McLaren and Mercedes respectively. This is the start, and the sportscar maker plans to inch its way into having full control of the team eventually. It’s all part of the Dany Bahar led masterplan to take on the likes of Ferrari and Porsche, as demonstrated in Paris last year.

The livery was unwrapped by team driver Vitaly Petrov and Formula 1 legend Jean Alesi, present as brand ambassador for Lotus. “Everyone remembers the black and gold Lotuses from years ago and it’s nice they have been brought back. When you look around the show here and see those cars, then see this car, it does make you smile,” the Frenchman said.

Along with the new look is new ambition. “We want to win with this car. To win you need to be a regular podium finisher – and then you will win – and that is our target. My ambition has always been to establish this team as a top team. I want us to be recognised as a top team like Ferrari or McLaren,” team boss Eric Boullier told Autosport.

On his team’s new name, Boullier said: “To have Clive Chapman here is a good sign, I must say. Definitely we are representing Lotus Cars – and we don’t claim any heritage or anything. We are the F1 vision of Lotus. It is good to have a Chapman family member here. The strategy of Group Lotus was to licence the F1 entry. For reasons that they decided on their own, they decided to change their strategy and to stick with us. That is it. There is only one Lotus manufacturer in the world and they have asked us to represent them in F1. That is the end of the story.”

By the way, should the team win a race, the British anthem will be played, not the French anthem, as Renault will compete next season with a British racing license, now that they have Lotus onboard. By the way, Tony Fernandes’ Team Lotus (as it will be called from now) is using a Malaysian license, so Negaraku will be played should the team win a race, although that’s a highly unlikely scenario in the near future.

When news broke that Group Lotus was buying into the Renault F1 Team, one of the more popular questions was why couldn’t they just invest in Tony Fernandes’ Team Lotus. Wouldn’t that have solved the issue of a Lotus vs Lotus battle on next year’s Formula 1 grid and in the courts? Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar shed some light on the matter at a media lunch in London.

Apparently, there were such moves, but the other side made it too difficult, and too costly for Group Lotus. “A question that has come up many times was why did you not find an amicable solution with Tony Fernandes? Well we tried,” he said.

“Let me just say when the counter proposals are so ridiculous and absurd, it makes no sense to continue these discussions. And if you can go with a top five team that is maybe one third of the cost that was asked by the other side, then that makes sense.

“We do not have the financial resources, and we don’t have the time to invest in a newly formed team that really deserves respect. By buying into an existing one which is well financed, which has the right partners in there, it was just the more conservative approach and we just wanted to fight at the top end of the grid. And that should not sound disrespectful to anyone, but we have such an ambitious plan ahead of us, we don’t want to lose time and we want to support the brand out there”.

What were the hurdles? “We were not afraid of partnering with Mr Fernandes, but as I said, there is one way that Lotus does business – and this is getting involved and not just putting the logo on the car. We need to be involved in the management. We need to take decisions together. We need to fund it together as well, which is fine, but it cannot just be that we are seen as a sponsor, we pay the cheque and everything else is run by someone else. That is something that we will never do. And even if it is a public perception, it will never happen,” Bahar clarified.

On the many arrows that are flying his way, the ex-Ferrari employee said: “Although the public perception is I am the bad guy and I am doing everything I can to sabotage them, this is complete nonsense. You cannot imagine that Dany Bahar can influence prime ministers, the board of Lotus, the board of Proton, the shareholders. There are so many people involved and it would not make sense!”

Team Lotus reserve driver Fairuz Fauzy has parted ways with Team Lotus. The 28-year-old Malaysian driver’s next move is return to full-time racing next year. His contribution to the Malaysian owned team was two test days in the winter, and Friday practice runs in the Malaysian, British, German, Singapore and Abu Dhabi GPs.

A statement from Fauzy’s management confirms the divorce. “Just last week, Lotus Racing prematurely released Fairuz from what was supposed to be a five-year contract, a move some may see as a detriment to the team after the insight, experience and exposure Fairuz has gained over the last 12 months with Lotus Racing,” it read.

It will not be the last we’ll see him in the paddock though. “In view of such developments as well, Fairuz has decided to contemplate other options and offers he has been receiving as of late from other Formula 1 teams, which also affords him the opportunity and flexibility to compete in other racing series at the same time,” the statement added.

The “Battle of the Lotuses” is the talk of the town, with Proton owned Group Lotus joining Formula 1 by buying over Renault’s shares in the Renault F1 Team. The team will be called Lotus-Renault, with Lotus being the title sponsor. Regarding the name, it’s much like what Vodafone or Petronas is to McLaren and Mercedes GP respectively; so happens that Lotus is a car manufacturer.

But GL’s ambitions are higher than just being a title sponsor and shareholder, although that’s the starting point. GL CEO Dany Bahar hints about taking full control of the team in the next few years. “Our way of doing things means that at the end of the project we would like to control it ourselves,” the former Ferrari employee told Autosport.

“It’s the same route – it starts somewhere and then you slowly take control. We would not be in for the long-term just to be a sponsor on the team,” he added.

Lotus is in the midst of a major renewal, and signaled their intent by wheeling out five concepts at the Paris Motor Show. They’ll need a lot of money to realise that future range of cars. Do they have enough for Formula 1? “We would not commit without backing from shareholders, banks and investors. If we didn’t it would be foolish to come up with ambitious plans like this,” Bahar assures.

There will be three “home teams” with Malaysian backing next season. Who will you support at Sepang?

Yes, Lotus Racing is now Team Lotus, at least according to FIA’s 2011 official entry list that was released at the end of last month. What does team boss Tony Fernandes have to say about yesterday’s announcement that Group Lotus has bought over Renault’s shares in the Renault F1 Team to form Lotus-Renault?

“Dany Bahar has done us a favour. Never felt better about our future and Team Lotus. Looks like they’re trying to hijack our black and gold idea,” Fernandes wrote on his Twitter page, referring to Group Lotus’ CEO. Last month, Lotus Racing said that they will be ditching their green/yellow for the famous black/gold livery.

Technical chief Mike Gascoyne also had something to say. “Thanks for all the messages of support from our fans,” he wrote on Twitter. “Rest assured, we are Team Lotus and we are here to stay and we at Team Lotus are in F1 to design, build and race F1 cars from our home in Norfolk, and in the future to win as a Team, bring it on.”

Even as this camp is in defiant mood, Group Lotus boss Dany Bahar isn’t wishing for his opponents to fade away. He told BBC Radio Norfolk: “Not at all (a problem) – for me, four (cars on the grid) are better than two. The controversy, that is something that has mainly been pushed up by media I would say, has been dealt with directly by our shareholders in Malaysia and with the owners of the 1Malaysia Racing Team and doesn’t really touch us.

“However, my personal opinion is that four Lotus brands out there is better than two. I have nothing against that.”