Lotus Considers Future F1 Engine

When they signed their 7-year commitment with Genii Capital for the build-up of the Lotus Renault F1 Team last week, Group Lotus had quite a long-term plan to develop their new F1 organization. Members of the British company's management, as well as high officials of its parent company Proton revealed that Lotus is planning to increase its involvement in the Enstone based organization on a yearly basis.

Initially, we believed they were talking mostly about increasing their share in the Formula One team and become more involved in the management process. Apparently however, Lotus is considering a potential engine programme in the series. And the latest FIA regulations for the 2013 season, when downsized turbocharged engines will return to the series, seem like the perfect time for the British company to do it.

“We have the capacity, we design engines for other OEMs so there is no reason why we should not be able to build and design engines for ourselves,” said Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar during a media dinner in London, on Wednesday.

However, he insisted that such plans are a long way from becoming reality and that the idea still needs a lot of developing in order to translate into a long-term F1 programme.

“This is the first step, having a complete own product – a sports car with an own engine – and then the rest is a logical consequence,” added Bahar.

The Enstone based team will continue to use Renault's V8 units for the upcoming 2 seasons, as it would make no sense for Lotus to start developing an F1 unit that will be taken out of the series at the end of 2012. What will happen from 2013 onwards, we'll let Lotus figure it out.