Lotus Racing team principal Tony Fernandes has set a target for his rookie team: to be among the top five Formula 1 teams in the next three seasons. “After Bahrain I’ve got the idea that within three seasons we can be up there up in the top five teams. Top ten I would hope this time next year we could be up there,” he told Autosport.
“I think it’s harder for them (established teams) to find two seconds, but easier for us, because we’ve had five months. We built a car that was heavier, we got the wrong radiators, etcetera, etcetera. So I think we can catch them up. Race pace we are not that far away. Heikki was giving Hulkenberg a bit of a race, so I’m confident we can get to the Saubers and Williams and the Renaults and Toro Rossos. It does seem, even when I say it, it seems tough.”
The Lotus Racing and AirAsia chief also spoke about money matters, and repeated that you don’t need big budgets to do well. “Toyota spent hundreds of millions of dollars and they never got there. I think it’s people more than anything. If someone does an analysis on what’s spent in Formula 1, there’s a fXXX-load of waste. The hundred million doesn’t equal 300 million of pace, necessarily.”
Successful businessmen don’t just enter something out of passion alone, and Fernandes concurs. “You don’t do it unless you are in for the long haul. We are here for passion but also for the business as well. We think it’s a good business,” he said.
Of the new teams, Lotus is at present the team to beat. The Malaysian funded outfit had two of its cars classified as finishers in Bahrain when others faltered, and Heikki Kovalainen was only one of two among the rookie teams who completed the Australian GP, well ahead of HRT’s Karun Chandhok. Let’s hope they can build on this and leave Sepang with some encouraging results!
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1st! Yeay! even though nothing to comment. LOL :D
Go Lotus !!!!
top 10…. you are in the top ten right now! just be teh best of new teams and 10 is ours
Tony Fernandez = An outright arrogant person who thinks he
knows so much about F1.
Lotus is a team to beat ??
They have been and will always be beaten!!.
Why are you aiming so low and comparing Lotus to the rest of the bottom feeders?
ummm Tony did not say Lotus is team to beat…. Danny said that…. and what he meant is Lotus is the best among the 3 rookie teams thus they are team to beat between the 3 teams….
read and read again and try to understand what u read before you even think about posting comments in here let alone bashing the Lotus team…. moron!
Dum! Dum! Dum!
Here come the sceptics!
Here come the critics!
Here come the negative thoughts!
Here come the losers!
Dum! Dum! Dum!
He just seems look alike the person who asking Tony "Do you really wanna do Airlines? Do you" in Tony's earlier time.
But he prove it. He's the man who walk the talk.
A target and vision is ok. Far better than not try anything.
Anyway… remember, toyota is the biggest loser in F1. hahaha
he may be arrogant but he is ther and kicking…he has garnered the respect frm d ppl that matters…he does not noe much, granted…tatz d reason for hirin his technical director…
n yes they are the team to beat among d newly started teams…u cant simply say that they have been beaten n will alwys be beaten, they just started out, give them 1 full season..itz nt fair to judge after 2 races…even if u want to judge then rightly said tony that , they pushd hulkenberg hard n among d new teams they have been consistant after 2 races…n finishing d race n collectin valuable data is d most important thing now not wining a race!!!!
they are not aiming low..they are just realists, being in d top 5 teams in 3 seasons wif d budget they have is n achievement to be realy proud of…u cant be comparing them against d top team just yet..its like a building, u build good foundation frm down low n then soar into d sky
pity all the nay sayers, come up wif support la dun bkam typical n bash oni…
he turn around Tune Air (AsiaAsia original name) for just Rm1 and he is from entertainment industry..heck he know bout airline back then..look now AsiaAsia the biggest lowcost airline in Asia
i think you mean AirAsia, not AsiaAsia.
Typical moronic basher!!!!
Can you find a newly born baby that can run immediately after coming out from mother's womb?? If yes, i'll give you whatever you wish for..
Lotus for me has done quite a good job so far. First make the car reliable then only upgrade the power & performance..
With realistic target such as this, i believed Lotus have what it takes to become a top ten team by next year :)
yeah lotus is the team to beat, for newcomers. sigh….. itu pun tadak paham ka'
disappointed team
Paul,
Off the topic….any new reviews on road or supercars thingy ?
this lotus team has no technical/direct support from actual LOTUS CAR CO.uk
this team bears the legendary name…so they have to work hard to keep this lotus name alive without the support…let say it was a gimmick in F1…but hey..this malaysian owned team not doing too bad either…
Tall order but its always good to start well. Hopefully they can become like how force india is doing now eithin 3 years.
Better late than never I guess ;)
Lotus is aiming to be what BMW wanted to be but never materialized. It will be amazing if the F1 team last for 5 years in the first place. Maybe they should change their motto now and take from Honda: "The Power of Dreams" :P
It will be PHENOMENAL if they're still around after 3 years
CNN ?
where is lotus evora? they said it will be launch here the end of march.
Evora ?? Wait for me !
Evora show unit has been in KL for a number of months now and Lotus Cars in Malaysia are taking orders all this while as far as I know even before talks of a KL launch.
so…what is the price?i bet around rm500k.
personally I can't evaluate now.. I think after completing this season than it will show Lotus team got potential or not.. for new team anything can happen, but I do hope Lotus will be the best team among new team for 2010 season.. let us pray for that.. I know you guys is working hard.. ;)
Anyone knows which part of the Lotus F1 car is actually LOTUS developed?
I know engine, aero, tranny all mix and match technology….
Hmmm….. trying to think but i drew a blank. ZERO is the answer.
Even the sticker is not the original Lotus brand but rather a heavily modified version of it, never seen before in the history of anything to do with Lotus
My answer Bullshit, in ur dreams, in ur wildest imagination top 5.
at least he has a vision to succeed although it look impossible….."the mover is better then the follower"
Techcy says:
31/3/2010 at 2:56 pm
Anyone knows which part of the Lotus F1 car is actually LOTUS developed?
I know engine, aero, tranny all mix and match technology….
.. the seat …. the "hi-tech" seat that fell out in Australia GP
possible ler, by that time, more and more poeple pull off from F1…. then leave few cat to race… top 5 is still possible mar….
This Tony aldready know it going to happen mar…
Top five????? in 2013…….DREAM on lah
It is easier to say than doing obviously……Tony, you should be thanks god if LOTUS F1 can
survive this season and manage to start next year. This is F1 dude, even have huge budget
can not guarantee build success, what else with LOTUS.
Dont talk cock please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well he can make it if people like you stay as far away as possible from the team. In fact, why don't you stay as far away as possible from the country! It's people like you who's dragging everything down! That's why the country is in the position it is now!
First this is F1 dude, just take a look at WHY WHY toyota, honda and even BMW exits this sport. All are large car maker wif huge budget but achieve nothing.
Tony, you need to admit that MONEY sure is everything in F1. just look at why ferrari and mcLaren reject hard the 40 million cap on the teams, you will know what brings them to top every year….
Before this, BMW said it achieve nothing really significant for their company or producing cars through F1 (search in google)
Again, from Tony blog, THIS IS AGAIN THE NATION PRIDE that Malaysia can do this, need to own this BLA BLA BLA….
I will be his life time idol if he use that money from AIRASIA to help the poors or charity works instead of proving himself or be proud!!!!!!!!
Toyota, Honda, BMW spend so much money but get so little. Why? The Jap teams are all politics, higher up in Japan try to meddle with team affairs, that’s why fail. And they lack passion, especially Toyota (just like their cars). They only care about profit for the sake of profit, that’s the problem.
If you don’t want to support him, no matter. I’m not a big Lotus F1 fan, more of a Williams fan, but at least I don’t belittle their achievement. Credit where credits due, they had the shortest time to prepare for the season and came up tops over Virgin Racing, whose fuel tank’s not even big enough to finish the race, and HRT.
And why don’t you help the poor? Are you helping? If not, don’t cry out loud asking rich people to help the poor bla bla bla. Even 1 ringgit charity can help. If you don’t do it, don’t prance around mightily and ordering others to do so!
he did turn around TuneAir (now AirAsia) in just 1 year…nothing is impossible
what a joke literally….. :-)
success people first a joke for people…..
man u nay sating ppl shud read MR branson autobiography…ive u were to meet him in his earlt yrs settin up his empire..u were probably tinkin he waz a total lunatic!!!!..but look wer he is now..even DR M in his vision 2020…a tin minin country to a major player in S.E asia…they hv their faults granted..
again ppl, belive in somthin is beta than beliving in noting…i noe the fund bein put in to d team will be betr placed in some aiding the underprivilaged in m’sia…but its nt all tat bad…the exposure n all the hype will hopefuli force d nay sayin msian to tink tat WE CAN DO IT… WE JUST HV TO BLIVE N WORK 4 IT N NT KUTUK SIMPLY!!!
Let's archive this page and see how it goes in 3 years time :D
if this Lotus Team is no good, I guess the sponsors should not be increasing since launch???
who knows..maybe next year accidentally they build the even faster car..we'll see..
You guys can condemn and bash all you want. the fact is, no matter what you say, Tony Fernandes IS a successful businessman and he lets his actions do the talking. All you guys do is condemn everything thinking that you are better then everyone else.
What have you bashers done in your life? are you a multi millionaire? do you own your own airline? have you won any awards? do you have your own F1 team?
If no, just stop talking. talk is cheap. Tony Fernandes didn't get successful by listening to his critics, he got successful by proving them wrong.
Typical Malaysian mentality, like to condemn successful people.
Its a balance of everything Mr. Fernandes, not only the right people. All the stakeholders (i.e. drivers, team personel, shareholders, FIA, sponsors, Bernie and the other teams to a certain extent) needs to see and support your vision and that's a tough nut to crack. If any of the major stakeholders in F1 decides otherwise, you are at their mercy. Its called "convergence of interests" at the end of the day.
'We built a car that was heavier, we got the wrong radiators.."
hahaha…someone please recommend Tony where to buy radiators..
Kedai alat-alat ganti kereta Lim or Proton Service Center.
Please read what Tony said in his blog about the nay sayers http://www.tonyfernandesblog.com/
Tony is right at this point.
Just look at paultan.org will do, I read bashing almost everyday.
I will not want to comments on his top 3 in 2013. But being his vendor before, I really cannot rule out the possibility.
Perhaps in 2013 all F1 car is electric…an Tony is the new owner of F1
I think by the end of 2010 season, Lotus will be in the top 10 if they could get 1 second faster. Another 1 second for next season. They will be in the top 5 by 2012. Go Tony..
it's funny to see a lot of people here laughing on the good effort initiate by malaysian owned company…why there's no people start query on ferrari or mercedes capabalities… such a low class comments/attitudes people's thought here…
It is easier to be said than done. Lets just hope.
The Lotus car is really UGLY !
Top 5…now also top5 what…from behind lah….
What Lotes need is a racing day where 2/3 of racers have engine / cars problem…then Lotes could be in top 5….
by 2013… Lotus will be bankrupted by these clowns
Why not 2020 Tony ? then you have longer time to give excuses for this and that … and cook up more false hope to Malaysians
Coffee time…. Wake up Malaysians
hopefully we will se sir richard branson as airasia stewardess.lol
I think most of these bashers are sore losers in reality… condemn so much but nothing to show…
"It’s much better than just writing negative stories. Go out and make a difference. Don’t just hammer those with a positive attitude. Change today and go out and make a difference."
Love this quote from Tony Fernandes.
i have faith in Tony… let's make it happen.
Sponsorship may not continue to pour in financial funds into F1 Lotus if doesn't show any points from this year F1 results.. if this still presist sponsors will abandon you. .. sponsors do you agree.
'Look at AirAsia. Everyone laughed at us. Look at us now. The world’s best low cost airline; accomplished in just eight years. Who is laughing now?'
I LOVE THIS QUOTE!!!
It would be a tremendous feat if Lotus is able to be in the Top 5 within 3 years. Small F1 teams in the past like Minardi, Spyker, Super Aguri,etc. or even established manufacturer teams like Honda and BMW had all struggled to break into the top 5 barrier, and most if not all of these teams have either completely exit F1 or be bought over by others.
To last in F1 will not be an easy task, let alone be competitive enough to break into Top 5. However, I wish the team all the best. I believe with Tony leading the charge,and with proven key personnel, drivers and lots of hard work, they have all the right ingredients to make it happen. 3 years is not a long time and I seriously hope this dream can be achieved so that the naysayers can finally be put to rest.
Sauron,
I’ve noticed that since last September Tony is gradually changing his ‘Tune’ (pun intended) as he learns more and more about the sporting business of F1. He is learning by the day I suspect how different F1 is to airlines. As long as he keeps learning and honing his ‘Tune’ the team is not screwed yet. One thing I noticed about Tony and other savvy businesspeople is that they’re quick to learn and so it does not really matter that you’re starting a paper clip business today when yesterday you’re a successful roti canai businessman.
limsk says:
31/3/2010 at 11:32 pm
Sponsorship may not continue to pour in financial funds into F1 Lotus if doesn’t show any points from this year F1 results.. if this still presist sponsors will abandon you. .. sponsors do you agree.
_______________________________________
Disagree :).
Sponsors are not interested in how many points the team earns. They are interest in ROI and only ROI. "How much exposure value I get for every dollar I spend"
How the exposure is attained is not so important as long as it is attained.
Wins and podiums are not the only method to achieve that. In fact it would be foolish for any team to promise returns based on exposure due wins and podiums alone. They may or may not happen but it makes the job of delvering returns to sponsors mucch easier of course.
I think that the strategy used in airline business would be different than in F1. But then if Tony is a smart businessman, he'll know how to adapt. My 2 cents.
Yea, good targets being set…..But i feel top five spot by 2013 is unlikely to be met…..Judging from how Lotus F1 have done, i think much more time will have to be spent into development…..
Maybe 2015-2018 will be the appropriate time spot for top 5…..
Go Lotus Go