Refuting suggestions that it would give up on its Lotus affiliation in the face of opposition from Group Lotus, the Lotus Racing F1 team announced it intends to revive the historic black and gold colors of Team Lotus for the livery of its 2011 car. The famous scheme was first launched in 1971 and carried the colors with John Player Special tobacco brand sponsorship from 1972-'79 and again from 1981-'86, before the team switched to a yellow color scheme with Camel backing in 1987. Lotus Racing will also hold a competition for a fan to design the new livery.
The team's chief executive, Riad Asmat, said: "When we first unveiled our 2010 car, there was unanimous praise for our decision to bring the historic green and yellow livery back to the modern F1 grid. I know the return to the track of the legendary black and gold will be met with even more universal support as it strikes such an emotional chord with fans around the world.
"Giving those fans the chance to help us bring it back to the contemporary grid is true to our core belief of putting our supporters right at the heart of Lotus Racing – we can't wait to show the world what we come up with."