Ross Brain says he is disappointed that the row over the Moreisless GPMERCEDES GP
 An artist's impression of exactly how far into the background a grey-coloured F1 car could fade. Mercedes GP was born when Brawn GP's amazingly successful combined inaugural and valedictory year in F1 prompted the car manufacturers' großen Käse to buy a controlling interest in the team at the end of 2009. The takeover was not intended to cause any undue instability, however; the new team would continue to be based in Brackley, less than 30 miles from Mercedes's F1 engine factory in Brixworth, giving the whole operation a distinctly German flavour. The team pulled off a bit of a coup - or scored a massive own goal, depending on where your loyalties lie - by signing Michael Schumacher on a three-year contract, which sees the seven-time champion reinstated as the sport's undisputed number-one villain and, dare we say, wanker. Sponsorship for 2010 comes from Malaysian oil company Petronas, whose turqoise logo should clash nicely with the dreary grey livery traditionally favoured by Mercedes.
Much like celebrities who get hitched to entirely inappropriate partners, the team formerly known as Toleman has the kind of history that should make any prospective bedfellow run a mile. Lotus F1 is merely the latest in a line of rebrands that has seen Toleman beget Benetton, Benetton beget Renault and now Renault beget Lotus.
Much like many of those those same celebrities, the marriage probably won't last very long, which would be A Good Thing because this name change means that there have now been three distinct Formula One teams called Lotus: the original and best Team Lotus, Tony Fernandes's short-live Lotus Racing and now Lotus F1.
In its favour, the team has brought back to the sport the legendary black and gold livery made famous by the original Team Lotus when it was shamelessly accepting sponsorship from tobacco pushers John Player. Its origin may not be anything to shout - or, perhaps, to wheeze asthmatically - about but the colours undeniably look good on a racing car and it does at least make a refreshing change from "mainly white, with some sponsor logos splashed randomly about". TIGRA 16v: The tooltip with lowered suspension and a racing windscreen wiper now having lodged a protest against it.
Speaking before a scheduled meeting with race stewards in China to discuss the legality of the DRS-activated F-duct on the W03, Brain said he had hoped that the matter would have been cleared up by now.
"It's a bit of a drag," said Brain.
"Actually," responded a spokesman from the LowcostLOTUS F1
Much like celebrities who get hitched to entirely inappropriate partners, the team formerly known as Toleman has the kind of history that should make any prospective bedfellow run a mile. Lotus F1 is merely the latest in a line of rebrands that has seen Toleman beget Benetton, Benetton beget Renault and now Renault beget Lotus.
Much like many of those those same celebrities, the marriage probably won't last very long, which would be A Good Thing because this name change means that there have now been three distinct Formula One teams called Lotus: the original and best Team Lotus, Tony Fernandes's short-live Lotus Racing and now Lotus F1.
In its favour, the team has brought back to the sport the legendary black and gold livery made famous by the original Team Lotus when it was shamelessly accepting sponsorship from tobacco pushers John Player. Its origin may not be anything to shout - or, perhaps, to wheeze asthmatically - about but the colours undeniably look good on a racing car and it does at least make a refreshing change from "mainly white, with some sponsor logos splashed randomly about". TIGRA 16v: The tooltip with lowered suspension and a racing windscreen wiper team, "it's a bit less of a drag than it should be. That's kind of our whole point."
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