By BMW F1 Talk
September 4 2009

According to Autosport and other sources, there is a strong attempt by the Malaysian government and some enterprises of the country to bring forward a team that would replace Sauber.

This team would be called Lotus, would be created in collaboration with Litespeed, with former Renault, Toyota and Force India high profile engineer Mike Gascoyne said to be involved.

Apparently some sectors of the Malay government want to give a boost to the Proton Company, the owner of the Lotus Group, and to do so they would influence public national oil company Petronas, current BMW Sauber sponsor, to support the Lotus project instead.

Indeed a very powerful weapon, as the oil brand is the main sponsor of the Swiss team, reportedly paying 35m€ a year, and is certainly a central pillar of the team’s rescue chances.

Petronas had signed a few months ago a renewal of its contract with BMW Sauber, that would last for 3 years, but it seems that BMW’s withdrawal would allow them to abandon that contract without legal issues.

We have learnt as well that Peter Sauber, who is fiercely trying to rescue his team, is currently in Malaysia, probably after this rumors appeared, to try to convince Petronas to stay on board with the Hinwil-based team.

We expect to see more developments soon, and hope that the Sauber team, with over 400 workers, is saved.

We will keep you updated.