New Lotus F1 team reveals logo and drivers

Lotus F1 Racing revealed its new team logo today, keeping the famous green and yellow colors of the legendary Lotus marque made famous by Colin Champman, as well as revealing their 2010 driver line up in the form of Toyota and McLaren refugees, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen.

Team principal Tony Fernandes explained the new logo."We have thought long and hard about our team brand and logo, and I am very pleased with the end result." "We are not pretending to be the Lotus of the past, but we are honoured to be able to bring the name back into Formula 1 at the start of a new decade of racing. We will draw on its heritage and use it to inspire and motivate our team, Lotus F1 Racing."

In terms of the drivers, Jarno Trulli seems very excited after being thrown a life line when Toyota's decided to quit Formula One, but is grounded to what the team can achieve. "I have been in Formula 1 for many years but there is something extremely motivating about helping to build a team from the ground level up."

"We have to set realistic targets for the first year. We are one of the new teams, so we have to prove ourselves and to gain respect in the paddock. We have to establish ourselves as the best of the new teams and see what gap we have between us and the rest."

After a shaky beginning to his career at Renault and McLaren, Heikki Kovalainen appears ready to settle into a team that is going to be lower profile and get on with the job with his new teammate, "I have known Jarno for many years now and I think together we can push the team forwards very quickly, and develop our car and the team in a professional way."

For Lotus F1, their driver choice is interesting. I think both Trulli and Kovalainen are intelligent and very fast drivers. However, they are inconsistent and prone to having mysteriously slow performances. In terms of building up the team, I think this is a very good pairing given the experience level and where they each have driven. However, it will interesting to see how they push performance and develop the race package.