Nigel Mansell Becomes Lotus Ambassador

Nigel Mansell has recently welcomed Group Lotus' decision to return to Formula One racing, saying that seeing the iconic Black and Gold colours back on the F1 grid will probably cause him some strong feelings next season. A few weeks later, meaning earlier today, the former F1 champion was named ambassador of the British carmaker.

In his new role, Mansell will supervise the development of Lotus' T125 single-seater special, alongside another big name of the Formula 1 world, quadruple champion Alain Prost. Additionally, Oxford-born racer James Rossiter will also be part of the team that will test the T125 in Abu Dhabi, this week.

“Returning to Lotus in this capacity brings back a lot of memories for me,” said Mansell. “I will always be extremely grateful to Lotus and especially to Colin Chapman, who was so inspirational and almost like a second father to me.”

“I've been watching the developments taking place recently at Hethel with their ambitious race and road car projects with great interest. I'm really delighted to see that Lotus is back where it belongs, competing with the best in the top echelons of motorsport.”

As far as the T125 project is concerned, we're talking about what many of you already know by now as being the closest experience to drive an F1 racer a Lotus customer (and F1 fan at the same time) can have. The T125 single-seater is powered by a detuned 640bhp, 332lb/ft 3.5-litre Cosworth V8 racing engine and is built in only 25 units.

The price for such a car exceeds $1 million, and the first units are expected to be delivered by April this year.