Formula One news

Lotus scouting for fresh talent

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal of the new-for-2010 Lotus team, is keen to see more people karting from a young age with the principal aim of one day racing in Formula One. The 1Malaysia owner is particular interested in generating awareness in his home nation as the Lotus name prepares to return to the sport.

Although the backing of the team may be totally different to that of the Lotus last seen in F1 fifteen years ago, the famous name will no doubt bring with it a raft of attention. "The plan now is to encourage more parents to get their children into go-karting with two driver development programmes," Fernandes, who is encouraging the same for engineering programmes, said in a press conference at the Speedway PLUS circuit.

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal of Lotus F1

"One of the issues we have in Malaysia is - where do our go-kart drivers go from here? All World Championship drivers started in go-karts." The schemes set up by Fernandes aim at developing approximately twenty new drivers every year, sending them to established karting circuits around Europe and Asia, with the track selected for each individual being most suitable for their talent at the given point in time.

As well as drivers, Malaysian universities will also be scoured in order to discover new talent for engineering within the team, with an internship being an initial possibility before full-time employment at a later date.

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