Lotus and Malaysia interested in BMW Sauber

Peter Sauber, founder and 20% owner of the BMW Sauber team, spent his week in Malaysia. It seems that the Malaysian government, already involved with the team to the tune of 35 million euros per year for the promotion of the oil company Petronas, might be interested in forming a national Formula 1 team.

Through the involvement of the Malaysian consortium, it seems that the matter involves a few other entities such as Lotus, Litespeed, and Mike Gascoyne via an independent start-up. A takeover bid is being considered with the F3 team, the well-known engineer, and the new director of Lotus, Dany Bahar.

Coincidence or not, it was confirmed a short time ago that Bahar was leaving Ferrari to take up the position of director at Lotus in October. “I am eager to take on the challenges as president of this legendary and symbolic company with an extraordinary history in motorsport,” stated Bahar. “I can’t wait to put my plans in motion in October.”

Lotus is owned by Proton, a Malaysian automobile manufacturer, and the current chairman is Malaysian Dato Nadzmi Mohd Salleh. Confident in his company, he opens up the possibility of a return to competition by praising the performance of his successor: «With Dany’s track record in motorsport and with Ferrari, we strongly believe we have found the right chairman to strengthen the image, brand, and reputation of Lotus, which builds world-class sports cars.»