Team Lotus would become Sonangol Caterham F1
The Team Lotus group led by Tony Fernandes recently acquired the English company Caterham. The consortium is composed of Kamarudin Meranun, SM Nasarudin, and of course, Tony Fernandes. This acquisition should allow Team Lotus, which is present in Formula 1, to change its name to become Caterham.
Since the beginning of the season, a conflict has been ongoing between Group Lotus and Team Lotus to determine who is the rightful owner of the name Lotus in Formula 1.
After incessant back and forth in the courts, Team Lotus may have found a solution: buy Caterham and use the name of the English company in Formula 1 instead of Team Lotus.
Tony Fernandes stated on this acquisition: Caterham has a unique place at the heart of the automotive world. In addition to being proudly and resolutely British, it has an enviable and unique untarnished reputation within the industry for performance, handling, and engineering excellence.
The official announcement should be made during the day via a press release. However, we can already reveal to you the new name of the team, likely to be Sonangol Caterham F1. In fact, after some research, the domain name CaterhamFormula1.com has recently been opened. It features the probable replacement logo for Team Lotus on its site.
Sonangol, Angola’s oil company, is expected to become the title sponsor of the team, thereby strengthening its presence. Sonangol is already the main sponsor of Riccardo Texeira, a test driver for the team.
