Caterham AirAsia Team in the 2011 GP2 Series

Following Team Lotus' buyout of the British sportscar maker Caterham Cars earlier today, most of the Formula 1 fans out there had one question on their lips: Will this lead to a rebranding of Tony Fernandes' team in the series?

And since that particular aspect will be addressed once the naming dispute between Team Lotus and Lotus Cars will have been settled by London's High Court, once certainty prevails. There will be a Caterham Team in the world of single-seaters, only it will happen in the GP2 Series, F1's feeder championship.

According to Team Lotus' boss Tony Fernandes, his GP2 squad AirAsia will be rebranded for the 2011 campaign, the most likely name to be forwarded to the FIA for confirmation being Air Asia Caterham.

“I can confirm pretty clearly that there will be a Caterham GP2 Team,” said Fernandes loud and clear, in an interview with British publication Autosport. “I have to check with the regulations, rename the team 'Caterham' and AirAsia will become a sponsor. So Air Asia Caterham. You've asked me that, and that is my immediate reaction. But when we do it and how we do it, I don't know yet.”

In addition, Fernandes insisted that he didn't negotiate the Caterham takeover as a fallback in case he loses the legal battle against Lotus Group, as talks on that move began from as early as December last year.

London's High Court is expected to give a definitive verdict on the Lotus naming dispute in the upcoming few weeks.