Lotus F1 cut sponsorship ties with Group Lotus

Group Lotus, Malaysian-owned since the 1990s, was recently sold by Malaysian carmaker Proton to Malaysian automotive conglomerate DRB-Hicom.

And with uncertainty over the company's future, Lotus F1 team owner Genii Capital has decided to cancel the £100 million seven-year sponsorship agreement, which included an option for Proton to buy 50 per cent of the team.

"The sponsorship agreement and the obligations of Lotus have been terminated,” Genii owner Gerard Lopez said of the latest confusing twist in the return of the Lotus brand to Formula One.

"There is no option from Group Lotus to buy into F1 now - that option was taken over by us. There was one, but we have taken it over now.

"We are happy to carry the Lotus name as we believe it is a good name for F1. We funded the team last year and the year before for whatever delta was missing.

"We would prefer to have sponsors up to the full amount - but if we have to fund it then we will fund it.

"When we changed the name from Lotus Renault to Lotus [for this year] it opened up the door for a title sponsor. So if you take into account the fact we signed Unilever, probably the biggest sponsorship agreement this year in F1, and we signed Microsoft, which is huge news as it is a brand that has never been in F1 before, we have a wide space for sponsorship.

"If we sign a title sponsor now, we will end up with a better cash flow situation than this team ever had before."

Lopez did not rule out the possibility of Genii Capital buying Group Lotus at some point in the future, with the Luxembourg-based company having held talks with Proton in the past.

"We don't know yet, because we really do not know what the new owner wants to do with it," he told Autosport.