The iconic black and gold livery returns to Formula 1 in 2011, following the announcement that Group Lotus (the road car producers) and Genii Capital have formed a partnership that re-brands Renault’s F1 cars as ‘Lotus Renault GP’.

The black and gold cars originally some of the sport’s greatest drivers such Mario Andretti, Ronnie Peterson and Ayrton Senna score numerous victories. The JPS liveried cars disappeared at the end of 1986, and that coincided with the downturn in the original Team Lotus’ fortunes.

This iteration of Lotus in F1 is set to go head-to-head with Tony Fernandes’ Lotus F1 team, which made its debut in the 2009 F1 World Championship. As we closed for press, Lotus F1 looked set to continue in the sport with its British Racing Green and gold cars, as it already had its entry confirmed for the 2011 F1 season. The team, which is currently based in Norfolk, near the Lotus Group HQ will also use Renault power…