Virgin Racing and HRT could not better 12th in Abu Dhabi, which means that Heikki Kovalainen’s 12th place finish in Suzuka clinched 10th place for Lotus Racing in the constructors’ championship. But team boss Tony Fernandes has more than just TV money to be happy about. He told Autosport:
“There are three things I am really happy about. One is that we have got tenth in the constructors’ championship. Two, which is probably just as important as tenth is that we have built a great team. Paddy McNally was saying to me that truckies are coming to talk to me and I know all their names, and I said that was our culture – everyone counts,” he said.
“But the third aspect which I can finally say, and I have resisted from saying it all these months, is that Colin Chapman would have been very proud of what we have achieved. We are the only team that really had to come up from scratch – in the same way that Colin Chapman built his team.
“We didn’t have a big budget, we didn’t have huge sponsors, we didn’t have a team like Vijay (Mallya, of Force India) who bought an outfit, or other people who have bought teams. We didn’t have an F3 team to back us up like Dallara or Manor, we had to build everything from scratch and it was me, Mike Gascoyne, Harry Nuttall, Silvi (Schaumloeffel) and a dog, who walked into Hingham. It was a place I had never been to in my life and I can say today that I am really, really proud,” he beamed.
“I can say that wherever he is he would have been proud after 16 years of us bringing the Lotus name back. Many people have talked about it, but we did it. And I am thrilled that we were able to do it and do it with style. This is the first time I have said it, but I am confident to say that we have brought honour and pride to the Lotus name,” the AirAsia boss added.
Our man Harvinder Singh spoke to the Lotus Racing boss in a telephone interview before the season finale. Click here to play it.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Woot! Go Team Lotus!
and we’ll see 1 british guy wearing air asia stewardess uniform.
the best is redbull la. ppl sell energy drink only
excellent work! =)
wishing u guys all the very best next year!
yeah, congrats Team Lotus… you’ll have to fight the real Lotus next year.
yehaaa!
I didn’t know Proton has a lot of money………….its your money Proton supporters….hahaha
Well, u seems don’t have in depth F1 knowledge.
Did you know they are in fighting with proton over the lotus name.
And their collaboration with proton also because they get the license to use Lotus F1 Racing name.
Proton doesn’t give that much money to begin with…
I have zero knowledge about F1…….but i do wish my previous Wira with less faulty…and i have 100% knowledge about the car problem…..and countless repair…
whats the point getting into F1 if your cars sucks…..you know what i mean…..
when you buy toyota car, is it still your money after you pay them, or is it toyota money?
yeap….but Toyota use my money to build quality car through R&D…….not to waste it elsewhere…….
that doesn’t change the fact that it’s toyota money, not toyota fans’ money. right?
its nice to know where the money goes…….
Cant wait for first Lotus’s point next year!!!
beware, we Koreans are going into F1 soon ! the Team KIA
team Kill In Action (KIA)
All the best.
They have my support so long as I’m not funding it.
i would love to see Sir Richard Branson wearing Air Asia’s red and tight outfit though… (^^)
It’s 10th place man, come on. You didn’t start from scratch. These are all old hands in F1.
They did start from the scratch..
Yes, they started from scratch. Very rare to see it in F1 these days because the challenge to form a competent team that way is great.
Most current teams entered into F1 by buying into an older F1 team. Even BrawnGP (now MercGP) was actually Honda.
Virgin is actually Manor GP from (F3) while HRT was at first Campos racing (F3).
Lotus Racing was put together from scratch in record time, shorter time than either Virgin and HRT.
Historically, in the last 10-15 years very few F1 teams were started from scratch. Toyota did, but they had their operation already in place from the Le Mans programme.
Stewart GP also started from scratch in 1997 but actually they were already running junior formulae programmes. Stewart GP evolved to what is now Red Bull Racing. Success did not come overnight.
I think what tanasi meant was not the car… the was probably built from scratch… but the people in the team aren’t newbie… they’re very experienced person…Mike Gavscon, Trulli, Kovaleinen, Alex Yoong etc… those are experience ppl…. they contributed largely to the team….
Anyway..congrats to the team for being the best of the rookies…. hopefully next year they’ll improve..not just being the best of the rest…
if actual Lotus did get into F1 with Renault team… let see which team will be favoured by Malaysian… =)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kota-Bahru-Malaysia/Cheng-HO-EXPO/149564551737853#!/photo.php?fbid=501259197386&set=a.501259122386.307337.18801397386&pid=7763012&id=18801397386 now richard ready become stewarT!!
wrong link, actually this 1 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=501259157386&set=a.501259122386.307337.18801397386&ref=nf
Seem like Tony want to sell Team Lotus name right to Proton. But he will be waiting till Group Lotus been scraped like what happens to MV Agusta before. Source http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88297
Once again Tony has proved nothing is impossible! Though many would have wanted to have the results looking better for Team Lotus but let’s be real. This is their first year of competing in F1 and I know I am going to be shot for saying that. Many here would take the opportunity to jump at me for saying just that and would try to refresh my memory and letting me know how great the Lotus team was back in the 70s and 80s. But having sabbatical years in F1 (or for that matter any competitive motorsports) is considered like starting fresh all over again. The technology has changed tremendously over the years when team Lotus were absent from F1.
However, kudos to Tony, the drivers, the engineers, mechanics and the rest in the team. You have made YOURSELVES proud despite the crap of jealousy constantly received by underachievers from this country who tried so hard get into F1 but had sadly failed yet again.
Thumbs up Tony! Lu syiok sendiri
Somehow this guy talks rubbish comparing lotus with the weak teams.. Making lotus a weak team too…
It is what it is. If you had 5 months to build an F1 car you’d have a ‘weak team’ too though I think most other people would fail entirely to put together a team in that short a period
anyway it is still proud to get top three from the last.
Money down the train, all the money spent here could be used for much better causes. If the Lotus team are in the running for the title then it’s a different story. Remember you are at the tail end! Please understand, that there is no glory but sadness of money badly spent.
Come on mate, it’s a long term investment. You can’t grow a flower overnight can you? Plant the seed, nuture it, and then you’ll get results. Money spent now for the benefit in the future. Coming from a motorsport background, they would know what they’re doing better than you I reckon.
Tony Fernandez you the man !!
Salute you chief.. Congratulation !
You are the best and hope you can achieve even more..