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Boullier Calls Out Fernandes' "Stupid" Attempt to Keep Lotus Name

Lotus Renault F1's team principal Eric Boullier expressed his disappointment over seeing Tony Fernandes battle so hard to keep the name Team Lotus in Formula One next year. Well, disappointment may not be the accurate word, as the Frenchman called out Fernandes' embarrassing effort to maintain a state of confusion inside the Great Circus next season.

Until the London High Court gives a final verdict to the matter, we have two teams bearing the name of Lotus in F1, although only the Enstone based squad benefits from actual support from Group Lotus and their parent company Proton. Talking to Italian website 422race.com, Boullier trusts this ridiculous situation will not go on for too long.

There are many people involved in this quarrel,” said the Enstone team boss. “The only thing I know is that Proton decided to invest and to be a sponsor of our team. This makes us the official representative of Lotus. You can try to be called Team Lotus, but at the end there is only one team with the support of Proton and which is therefore representative of Lotus Cars.”

If I can find somebody in England whose name is maybe Richard Ferrari, I can buy the right to use his name – that is how stupid the situation is. It's very bad for the fans, because [Fernandes' Lotus] is fake. Telling the fans about the Lotus heritage and so on is wrong. If you're called Lotus and you're manufacturing cars, then this is the only official name. That's it.”

Additionally, he moved to fend off rumors that Group Lotus will be involved in the management of the team, insisting that “Genii [Capital] controls the team” and not the British carmaker. A few days back, Lotus' CEO Dany Bahar confirmed the new tie-up will not lead to any changes in the team's management structure.

(...) The daily business is run by Genii, not by Lotus Cars. Lotus is just a sponsor and, as the title sponsor, they have the right to be in the team name, as the regulations state – but there will be no commercial change,” he added.
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