Tony Fernandes In Exclusive Interview With Autosport

Datuk Tony Fernandes, team principal of Lotus F1 Team, believes that competition from the new F1 teams will do the premier motor sport a world of good. “With new people come new ideas and new thoughts”, he told Autosport in a recent interview. “We all want to win; otherwise we would not be in this sport. But, I think there is more to be gained by working together—and I think FOTA is a good thing”.

“Teams compete, but there are many ways that they compete stupidly—trying to kill each other doesn't benefit anyone. In many ways it also shows a lack of professionalism in the sport, and sponsors are aware of that as well”, he added.

“You want a healthy grid of 13 teams, and the money is very skewed towards five or six teams. If a team pulls out, the remaining money goes to all the teams that are there—the column three teams gets nothing. That needs to be a little bit redressed because I think it is good to have 13 strong members”.

These are just excerpts from an exclusive interview he had with Autosport, click here to read the transcript of the entire interview, where he touched on everything from Lotus' preparations, to funding, choice of drivers, sponsorship issues, and his personal attitude and vision for the future.

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Seow Yao Han strives to bring you the latest and the most comprehensive information on cars available in Malaysia. But it's never easy for him to talk and write cars in this part of the world because what you lust after is often not what you drive home. When the euphoria of test-driving that branded, super-expensive sports car dies down, he just goes home in his less-than-glamorous ride.