Renault F1 announced that will race under a British licence in F1 for the 2011 season as Lotus Groups looks to forge a new British identity of the team in the sport. In fact a new Lotus-based livery for the 2011 season was already presented at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham.British engagement within the team becomes even more clear as Group Lotus shares ownership of the team with Luxembourg investment company Genii Capital. The team will continue to be called Renault at least for one more season, although the French car company no longer owns but a small stake of the team, but as a nod to Lotus' British routes and the fact that it is based in Enstone, Oxfordshire the nationality has been changed. As a result, if Renault wins a race the British national anthem will be played rather than the French for the constructor.
Team principal Eric Boullier told Autosport.
"Lotus is an English manufacturer. I have not announced this before, but we will be running under a British licence now. It means that if we win, we will play the British national anthem - and that is important for everybody inside the team. We are rebranding everything inside the company now."
Renault SA's official involvement in F1 will be limited to engine supply, with Renault Sport F1 providing V8s to customers Lotus Renault GP, Team Lotus and Red Bull.
However, its sad for a country like France who used to have a significant F1 tradition and influence, including historical teams like Ligier and champion drivers like Alain Prost to lose its Grand Prix race and all its racing teams without having a single Frenchman driver in the grid where you can find drivers from countries like India, Poland and Russia with less of F1 racing tradition. The last French drivers that passed from F1 were the 4-time CART champion Sebastien Bourdais and Flavio Briatore's protege Romain Grosjean.
