Information provided by Lotus

Lotus F1 Racing is one of four new additions to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 2010 and brings the legendary Lotus name back into Formula 1 for the first time in over fifteen years.


Lotus F1 Racing is flying the Malaysian flag in the championship with full support from the Malaysian government and its 1Malaysia initiative. The team is fully financed by Malaysian entrepreneurs, which gives the team a strong Malaysian character throughout all areas of its operation.

The team's top management is headed up by AirAsia founder and CEO Tony Fernandes in his role as Team Principal and Malaysian Riad Asmat, in the position of Chief Executive Officer.

First monocoque built.

Veteran engineer Mike Gascoyne oversees all technical development for the team in his position as Chief Technical Officer. Keith Saunt is Chief Operating Officer and Paul Craig has been named General Manager (UK).

Lotus F1 Racing's initial production and race team base was at the established Racing Technology Norfolk (RTN) facility in the UK. The factory is conveniently located just ten miles from the Group Lotus headquarters.

In the initial stages of car development, the team has established technical partnerships with aerodynamics specialists Aerolab and Fondtech as well as gearbox specialists Xtrac.

The team also collaborates with two Malaysian universities - Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) for engineering and composites support.

As the team prepares for its debut season in Formula 1 in 2010, Lotus F1 Racing will operate from the 50,000 square foot facility in Hingham, UK, a fully equipped factory.

Crash test of the nose cone.

An open plan design office with the capability of housing up to 70 designers exists on the first floor with conference facilities adjacent. This floor also houses the offices for management and the support functions of Information Technology and Health and Safety as well as other administration functions.

Main floor of the race shop.

On the ground floor further offices for operational departments lie next to the machine shop, which comprises Computer Numerical Control (CNC) mills and lathes as well as manual machining centres, and support equipment.

A composites function boasts two modern autoclaves one big enough for the largest of F1 carbon components and both a large pattern shop (including 5-axis router) and an impressive clean room for laminating key car parts.


A fully equipped quality and inspection department is also on site which opens onto the race shop where the cars will be built, re-built and prepared for racing.

The other race team support functions of sub-assembly, gearbox, hydraulics and electronics are all nearby.

Model car in the wind tunnel.