Group Lotus buys Renault F1 Team

[lotus7]

Would Group Lotus now switch to Renault ( Nissan? ) engines for their road cars ? Currently the engines are Toyota

[CHT]

Would Group Lotus now switch to Renault ( Nissan? ) engines for their road cars ? Currently the engines are Toyota

Proton has been looking for a technology partner for many years, hence it will make sense to use this as a platform to widen their cooperation to their car busineses.

I reckon one of the key motivation behind this renault/lotus deal is for Proton to tap into Renault/Nissan + Daimler technology expertise in making small cars.

[marcush.]

wouldn´t it make more sense to start with the key motivation and not with random side effects?
I don´t buy this.
Proton builds around 40k cars per year in the lowest price segment...

[xpensive]

There seems to be something wrong with this entire story if you ask me, is the general idea to reunite Gascoyne with Bob Bell perhaps, like we are talking a straight away merger, allowing Renault to get out?

Could this be why Gascoyne elected to go this unusual route in the first place?

[marcush.]

ah and btw ..
Proton made a profit(after tax) of around 220million Ringits in 2010(march 2010) thats 52Million €....

[xpensive]

ah and btw ..
Proton made a profit(after tax) of around 220million Ringits in 2010(march 2010) thats 52Million €....

Which is just about what it would take to run a half-arsed Formula One effort, what gives?

[marcush.]

maybe Renault is giving them a discount...to get hold of the shine of Lotus ...

[xpensive]

Nah marcush, two Malaysian teams in F1 just aint gonna happen.

How far is it from where you are at to Zweibrucken anyway?

[marcush.]

150KM ,but a 2hour trip due to the roads...

[xpensive]

Participating in designing the most outrageous 25 MW machine ever seeen might be tease enough to cover those km then?

I'm talking several kNm here, think about it.

[segedunum]

Proton just don't have the money to be able to fund this. Renault have now got what they wanted, which is to be out completely and remain an engine supplier (and they're only doing that because of Red Bull), and the financial burden now falls squarely on Proton. Funding Enstone is not a half-arsed F1 effort.

The only end-game I can see for this is that Proton burn through a lot of money, Fernandes ends up acquiring Group Lotus and he has the problem of trying to merge two Formula 1 teams with Mike Gasgoyne being reunited. Separately the two teams just aren't viable. The only mistake I think Fernandes made was not buying an existing decent team when the opportunity presented itself.

[segedunum]

MG is to my mind a true hero, the last of the "my way or the highway" kind, just like John Barnard or Gordon Murray, why I miss those gentlemen far more then my limited eloquence allows me to xpress.

Despite being surrounded by computers I don't think anyone can underestimate the importance of having a philosophy behind the design of something with the will to concentrate effort on that and that still requires a strong willed personality. John Barnard, Gordon Murray, Mike Gasgoyne, Adrian Newey - they're all in the same bracket. They don't sit in front of a CFD workstation and start throwing --- into it until the numbers look a bit better.

The only criticism I have of Mike Gasgoyne this year is that I think he's been far too conservative. I would have tried to copy as much that I could understand of the top cars like Red Bull and give myself a fighting chance of being able to develop areas that have a great deal of mileage in them. Those Lotus sidepods looked as if they'd come straight from the backend of the eighties.

I digress, but that's exactly why until I see some people at Mercedes who can make lightening strike two or three times in almost the same place I think they're running a marathon just to try and stand still.

Going sentimental now, I try to emulate my heroes everyday when I go to this Trondheim office of mine....

I can't shake off this vision that you go to work every day to a U-boat pen........

[marcush.]

I certainly do not need to think twice there..

[PNSD]

The only criticism I have of Mike Gasgoyne this year is that I think he's been far too conservative. I would have tried to copy as much that I could understand of the top cars like Red Bull and give myself a fighting chance of being able to develop areas that have a great deal of mileage in them. Those Lotus sidepods looked as if they'd come straight from the backend of the eighties.

I disagree here... He finished top of the charts for the new teams, and their cars were more often than not quickest during a race. He did exactly what he needed to, build a reliable, fast (enough) car. The important thing is whether or not they can build up that.

[xpensive]

Thanks gents, the U-boat pens are called "Dora", where I don't work. But can you imagine the story the brits bombed the place, without making more than a dent in the roof which the german soldiers filled with water to use it to take a bath?

German engineering at its best.