It always seems a bit silly that there is grounds to which countries can force changes to Formula 1
even if it is something as trivial as the livery of the car but apparently it seems that this is what Canada will be looking to do with regards to Lotus Renault GP team’s new livery. I know I’ve already brought up liveries recently in a blog post but I felt that this was more to do with the fact that Lotus Renault may be forced to change their livery for the Canadian GP this season.
Where has this all come from?
Lotus Renault unveiled their new livery this past weekend at the Autosport International show in Birmingham; however it has been said to resemble the famous John Player Special-backed cars which raced under the Lotus name back in the 70s and 80s. There is absolutely no connection between the two apart from what seems to be the colour scheme this time around, however, that has already prompted an investigation by Canadian officials. Under the very strict law in Canada there must not be any implied promotion of tobacco whether directly or indirectly. From this I can only gather that they are making the jump to thinking that Lotus Renault are subliminally promoting the cigarette company and will have to pass a thorough scrutinising before being allowed to appear at the Giles Vilenueve circuit.
Will Lotus Renault stand a chance?
I sincerely hope so, a lot of work has already gone into the team and it’s nice to see the Lotus name continue this season. Not to mention Lotus Renault would have to get special permission from the other teams; changing ones livery at this point or indeed having two is pretty rare and not too easy to get approved. In previous cases Canada has banned the parent company of JPS of using the colour scheme on their website. Even that is construed as indirect advertising and Canada will be having none of it. With only 53 days until the first race in the 2011 Formula 1 season what will Renault Lotus do? Hopefully Canada will be pretty lenient on their ruling but if not I sincerely hope they have a back-up design ready otherwise it could be a costly couple of months for them. All this talk about Formula 1 has got my appetite wet for a bit Karting, why don’t you come soon and check out our new Tower Bridge Track, it’s the bee’s knees so get booked now.