Just before Christmas, a statement by the family of Lotus' late founder Colin Chapman welcomed Group Lotus' move, and afterwards Nigel Mansell joined in with a positive statement of his own. Having driven for Lotus back in the '80s, the Brit sees the return of the iconic Black and Gold colors on the F1 grid as great news.
“It is particularly pleasing for me to see the union of Lotus and Renault again and the return of the iconic Black and Gold colours as driven by the late greats Ayrton Senna and Elio de Angelis, Johnny Dumfries and of course, myself in the 80s,” said Mansell, according to a statement posted on Group Lotus' website.
“I am extremely grateful to Lotus and especially to Colin Chapman, who was so inspirational and almost like a second father to me and have been watching with great interest the developments that have been taking place recently at Hethel with their ambitious race and road car projects.”
“I am really delighted to see that Lotus is back where it belongs competing with the best in the top echelons of motor sport,” he added.
Chapman's son Clive also stated his total support for the newly-formed Lotus Renault F1 Racing, as the former Lotus F1 Racing team headed by Tony Fernandes – and now called Team Lotus – no longer benefits from license from the British carmaker.
“Team Lotus name should not be used in formula one. (...) Indeed, assurances to this effect were received (last year). However, then its license to use the Lotus name was terminated and things changed,” said Clive, whose family now backs Group Lotus' F1 project.
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