Renault in Formula One under a British licence in , having raced as a French outfit since Renault took over in 2002. This left the sport without any team racing under a French licence for the first time since the season. Group Lotus had yet to purchase a stake in the team, but had an option to do so by the end of . Along with the launch of their new car, Lotus Renault GP announced that they had hired Jean Alesi as an ambassador for the team and test driver for the T125 single-seater project. On 6 February 2011, Robert Kubica was severely
David Hunt (racing driver) withdraw from the sport at the conclusion of the 2009 season. The team was called Lotus Racing. In the summer of 2010, 1Malaysia which ran an F1 team as Lotus Racing under licence from Lotus Cars bought Team Lotus Ventures Ltd from David Hunt. After this 1Malaysia would run its team as Team Lotus from 2011 onwards. Hunt died in his sleep on the evening of Sunday, 11 October 2015, at the age of 55. David Hunt (racing driver) David Hunt (20 May 1960 – 11 October 2015) was an English racing driver and younger brother of 1976 Formula One