Renault F1 Won’t Delay Lotus Rebranding After Takeover

While we’ve yet to receive official confirmation regarding Renault’s takeover of Lotus F1, at least we know the French manufacturer isn’t planning on losing any more time re-introducing itself to Formula One as a factory team.

At the moment, all we know is that the takeover isn’t complete, which means that there might be a couple of unresolved legal or financial issues, though the vibe around the paddock indicates that this is one of those deals that’s as good as done.

Some have speculated that Renault could be inclined to race under the Lotus name in 2016 in anticipation of it being a transition year. In other words, the team might under-perform and it would be somewhat clever to let the Lotus name take the fall and keep Renault squeaky clean.

Luckily for both manufacturers as well as the integrity of the sport, that won’t be the case, according to Renault F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul.

“It will be for 2016,” he told Motorsport. “There is no reason to wait. We know in terms of operation and performance that 2016, if we go for it, it will be a transition year. But there is no reason to wait in also building the marketing story, because even if the results on track are not great, there is a long old story and we cannot wait to tell it.”

Abiteboul also mentioned that his team won’t be the only one applying for a name change at the end of the season – referring of course to Manor Marussia, who are also expected to make a change.

“Renault is a halo brand, but there are other brands associated to that. I will not say anything in relation to that, because that will be part of the announcement. So we know what we want, and there has to be a process which we have discussed with the governing body. We have not started the process because it would have, I guess, to go through some form of commission. It looks though like we will not be the only ones to go through some form of discussion in relation to change of name, so I expect people will be pragmatic about this circumstance,” added the Renault official.

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