It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since Lotus Racing was first put together by Dato' Sri Tony Fernandes, boss of Air Asia and successful Malaysian entrepreneur. There were many who doubted the viability of the project and there were others who went on to challenge Tony to dress as a stewardess and serve onboard the winners plane, should his team fare lesser than the other. Well Tony's smile these days suggests the jokes on Branson.
It cant be denied, Lotus has come a long way since the early criticisms and they are starting to earn their respect, they are undoubtedly the fastest of the new teams, and in Germany Jarno Tulli came to less than a second of the lead cars time in qualifying. That's obvious testament to the hard work from the team, the drivers and of course the management and top bosses. And their achievements have not gone unnoticed.
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone recently spoke about Lotus being the only of the new teams worthy of their place on the grid, "Lotus is a good name. I wouldn't want to lose them" said Bernie.
So Lotus is already proving to be a force to be reckoned with and with them already channeling much of their energy into the 2011 car, the Anglo-Malaysian collaboration is only bound to get better. Team boss Tony Fernandes recently took time off to reflect on his team and the season so far, the following are his thoughts:
“Saturday in Silverstone marked exactly one year to the day since the Lotus Racing dream began. Mike Gascoyne performed miracles to get me into the circuit, and since that day our team has gone from a very bold idea to exciting reality. We’ve defied all the critics who doubted we could get our cars onto the grid in Bahrain, and we’re now comfortably the fastest of the new teams, pushing the guys ahead and already working hard on our 2011 car. Our factory in the UK is now fully functional, and we have some very exciting plans for our base in Malaysia – it’s important to me and the whole team that we continue to inspire the next generation of talented people in Malaysia, Asia and throughout the world, and I think we’re already starting to do that now with the progress we’ve made in such a short time.
“There have been some massive highs, and a few lows, but that’s what racing is all about – we got both cars home in Bahrain after an almighty effort by everyone in the team to get them designed and built in exactly six months. A bold strategy helped us get Heikki into Q2 in Malaysia, again exceeding expectations for a team that was still building up its infrastructure on and off track, a process that continues today and is now laying down the building blocks for future success. Seeing Fairuz in our car in FP1 in Malaysia, Silverstone and Germany is personally very satisfying, and is proof that talent, determination and the will to succeed will overcome any pre-conceived geographical boundaries."
"We’ve closed the gap to the established teams ahead, and in Germany Jarno’s qualifying lap was less than a second away from the Toro Rosso ahead – that’s an incredible achievement when you think that in Bahrain we were just under three seconds behind the same team. The fact we now consider scoring our first point in our first season as a real possibility shows how far we’ve already come, philosophically and in reality at the races.
“We’ve also become a real force in commercial terms. Throughout the season we’ve been very honoured to have been able to announce partnerships with a number of blue-chip global brands; CNN, LG, DuPont Refinish, Dell, AirAsia X and Tune Hotels, to name just a few, and that shows how seriously the corporate world takes us. We could only attract companies of that calibre if we were a serious player in the global sports market, doing a professional job in the right way, and that’s obviously very satisfying – they see our potential and want to work with us as we grow and move up the grid, and that’s another very positive sign that we are making a positive impact on Formula One™, within the paddock, and amongst the fans.
“The fans are ultimately our most important audience, and the feedback we receive every day on the internet, at races, and when I’m stopped in the street and told how much they love Lotus Racing, is also very gratifying – we are determined to embrace them, and make the exclusive world we race in inclusive – giving them unprecedented access to our team as we compete around the world. It also looks like we have gained an extremely important fan, one who really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to F1, global sport and big business – Mr Ecclestone was recently quoted as saying that ‘Lotus is a good name’ and that he doesn’t want to lose us from the sport he has done so much to make into the global phenomenon it is today. That’s the icing on the cake for me, as it shows clearly that we’re adding something interesting and valuable to the sport, and we’ll do our very best to prove he’s right."
“I can’t wait for the rest of the season. The team is taking a well earned break now, and will come back fighting fit and ready to consolidate our position at the head of the new teams, and challenge the squads ahead for grid positions, and, ultimately, points. That’s the focus now – to continue to do the best job we can in 2010, and kick into the 2011 season with a team that has learnt a number of valuable lessons in its first year, and be challenging for points in 2011 and beyond. The dream is more than coming true – it’s exceeding even what I dared to imagine it could do, and long may that continue!”
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