The BBC is reporting that Proton, the Malaysian manufacturer that owns Group Lotus, is considering buying into the Renault F1 team, and renaming the squad – which is no longer majority owned by the French auto manufacturer – as "Lotus-Renault."
The speculation follows the announcement earlier today that the current Lotus Racing squad – which is locked in a struggle with Group Lotus over the rights to the Lotus name – would use Renault customer engines next year. However, Renault's announcement specified that its deal was with "1Malaysia Racing", the original name of Tony Fernandes's Lotus Racing team.