The Formula 1 paddock helped Lotus during the Italian GP

When drivers complain that Formula 1 no longer has camaraderie of the past, stories like the one involving Lotus represent the exception that proves the rule.

The Enstone team is not experiencing a happy period of its existence given that on Friday 18 September it will have to appear in court to participate in the hearing which sees Lotus having to answer for the nonpayment of an invoice to HMRC, Her Majesty's Revenue Agency. Yet, despite the financial troubles, the Enstone team has all the support of its direct rivals, as happened in Monza when several teams helped the team led by Federico Gastaldi given that the rain that fell before the qualifying session made the covers tire temperatures unusable.

When preparing to race the Singapore Grand Prix, Alan Permane wanted to thank his category colleagues for having put aside, at least for a moment, the competitive spirit that distinguishes Formula 1: “They helped us with several substitutions. They are our direct rivals in the championship, but they didn't hesitate for a moment – ​​he wrote in Auto Motor und Sport – If it hadn't been like this, we would have had at our disposal only three lots of tires for the qualifying session."

Yet, although it may seem difficult to understand, it is not the first time that Formula 1 teams have helped each other. Something similar had already happened on the occasion of Monaco Grand Prix 2012 when some teams handed over different elements to Williams after the end of the previous race in the Grove team garage a fire broke out while the team was celebrating Pastor Maldonado's success.

Eleonora Ottonello