Fernandes wants 60 million to settle the dispute with Lotus

The Lotus Group, owner of Proton, remains open to amicably resolving the dispute for the glorious English brand in F1, but has complained about Tony Fernandes' excessive financial demands.

Fernandes, team boss and co-owner of 1Malaysia, the company that went by the name Team Lotus in F1, recently revealed he had received an offer of less than $10 million to settle the matter outside of civil court.

The Lotus Group entered F1 as the main sponsor of the Renault team, thus creating the strange situation of two Lotus teams on track and has launched a legal case against Fernandes.

Proton revealed in a statement that Fernandes demands between 22 and 37 million pounds (equivalent to 60 million dollars) in a settlement.

1Malaysia would have pointed out that the sum includes not only the sale of the Team Lotus name, but other costs such as the development of a new brand, and lower revenues from merchandising and sponsorships.

Proton has confirmed that it only intends to pay for the purchase of the brand. “1Malaysia cannot ask us to compensate them for a problem they created on their own” reads the statement from the Malaysian manufacturer which added: “An amicable agreement can still be reached if reasonable and justified proposals are made”.