Lotus F1

Background

The team's Formula One history began in 1981 as Toleman Motorsport in Witney, Oxfordshire. Michael Schumacher won the Drivers' Championship with the team in two seasons, and in 1995 the team also won the Constructors' Championship with Johnny Herbert alongside Schumacher. Renault purchased the team in 2000 and renamed it Renault F1 Team in 2002; Fernando Alonso won the Drivers' Championship in 2005 and 2006, and the team won the Constructors' Championship both years with Giancarlo Fisichella as the other driver.

Starting with the Lotus E20, the team placed three gold stars in the car's livery forward of the cockpit to recognise these achievements. At the end of 2009, Renault sold a majority stake to Genii Capital. Lotus Cars became involved in 2011, leading to the team being renamed Lotus Renault GP for 2011 and Lotus F1 Team for 2012. The organisation as a whole is colloquially called 'Team Enstone'.

Team Lotus, a sister company of Lotus Cars, competed in Formula One from 1958 to 1994, winning seven constructors' and six drivers' titles. The Lotus name returned in 2010 via Tony Fernandes's Lotus Racing team, licensed from Group Lotus; after the licence was terminated, Fernandes used the Team Lotus name, and for 2012 that team became Caterham F1 Team, clearing the way for the Lotus Renault GP team to be renamed Lotus F1 Team.

History

On 29 November 2011, the team announced Kimi Räikkönen would race for them in 2012, returning from a two-year stint in the World Rally Championship, signing for two years with a third-year option. On 9 December 2011, GP2 Series champion and 2009 Renault F1 driver Romain Grosjean was announced as Räikkönen's teammate. Renault remained an engine supplier but no longer provided free engines; the team paid about 70% of an engine package lease. At the season's start, the team protested Mercedes AMG's use of a 'radical' rear wing concept on the Mercedes F1 W03, later called the 'F-duct rear wing' or 'Double DRS'.

The dispute was settled at the third race in China when stewards unanimously rejected the protest, and Lotus confirmed they would not appeal. Lotus started strongly with Grosjean qualifying third in Australia, but first-lap incidents in Australia and Malaysia ruined his chances of points. In China, Räikkönen ran second until his tyres 'fell off the cliff', pushing him out of the points for the only time that season. In Bahrain, Lotus achieved its first podiums: Räikkönen close to winner Vettel and Grosjean third.

In Monaco, Grosjean had another first-lap incident, but in Canada he used a one-stop strategy to take second, his best finish. In Valencia, Grosjean ran second until a mechanical problem ended his race after a safety car period, leaving Räikkönen to take another second-place podium. Räikkönen took three consecutive podiums in Germany, Hungary and Belgium. In Hungary, Räikkönen and Grosjean had an inter-team battle after pit stops, with Räikkönen finishing second and Grosjean third.

At the Belgian Grand Prix, Grosjean triggered a multiple-car pileup at the start, eliminating Grosjean, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Pérez, and costing Kamui Kobayashi a possible podium. Grosjean received a one-race ban for the next round at Monza and was replaced by reserve driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio.

Sponsorship and livery

The Lotus F1 Team ran a black-and-gold color scheme that echoed the look of Team Lotus from the John Player Special tobacco sponsorship era. That sponsorship deal ended early in April 2012, but the team kept using the Lotus name through at least 2017. Just before the Lotus E21 launch in March 2013, Honeywell backed out of a reported €50 million sponsorship. Without a title sponsor in 2014, the team rotated its primary sponsorship space each race among existing backers, temporary partners like Interwetten and Hisense, and a tribute to the El Greco exhibition at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Its sponsors over time included Renault, Total, Trina Solar, Advanced Global Trading, Microsoft Dynamics, Japan Rags, Richard Mille, Symantec, Avanade, and Unilever brands Rexona and Clear (the last two moved to Williams F1 for 2015). In 2013, Lotus signed with Coca-Cola’s Burn energy drink and Pastor Maldonado’s sponsor PDVSA; in 2014, it added Saxo Bank. The team was originally owned by Genii Capital, with property investor Andrew Ruhan holding a two percent stake and Yota Devices a speculated ten percent share.

Later, Groupe Renault became the majority owner, with Jérôme Stoll as chairman and Cyril Abiteboul as managing director.