The Malaysian Insider

No matter what the Govt say, they will twist and turn and flip their words. At the end it is us, the RAKYAT that going to put the money in their pocket. Sponsor for T-Shirt 2 mil. One mil for him, 0.5 for her, 0.3 for his son finally 0.2 for the guy who got the tender. That MALAYSIA BOLEH. Where the shirt come from....CHINA some reject stuff.

To En Kamarun

We Msians are so used to all these wonderful "financial " terms that has been bandied in the past. Oh, so 90s!

I sure hope your "sponsor-ship" will not into a "bail-out".

Nothing wrong. Except that the timing sucks. If Honda, Toyota and the likes are pulling out why we want to stupidly enter? As if they are not smart enough to see the signs right. As if our country isn't in current account deficit right? As if we need glorious sporting brands at this time when even the commonwealth games account still not settled yet? As if we continue to be easy suckers for others, right?

well said. enough of mad profligacy

It's not so much BMW but Petronas's long-standing partnership with Sauber..

Nothing wrong for Petronas or even Ramlee Burger to sponsor Lotus F1 if the returns are there. Unfortunately in this case I don't think so. Why would Petronas want to weaken their brand. They should be moving up the grid not go near the back. Kamarudin's statement shows lack of maturity.

As for the Lotus brand value, it is still relatively strong albeit outside Malaysia and it is still relatively strong in the sport of F1 because of it's heritage. Lotus Cars are also expanding their car market worldwide so it makes sense. Their brand value in the automotive world outside Malaysia is strong and whatever they benefit in turn benefits their owners, Proton.

I'll start off by saying that I don't think Petronas or Govt should be sponsoring Lotus either. But anyone who knows anything about F1 will tell you that your comparison between Lotus and BMW-Sauber is, well, rubbish.

Petronas started sponsoring Sauber in 1995 when they were minnows having only gotten 12 points in the previous season. Of course sponsoring them was a gamble. Only an idiot would say that it wasn't. BMW only got into the picture when they bought over the team in 2005. BTW, that race you mentioned that they won in 2008 was their only win in the whole 16 seasons they've been around.

Lotus, on the other hand, is one of the most successful names ever in F1 having won 7 constructor's and 6 driver's titles with legends like Jim Clark, Stirling Moss, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell having driven for them. Lotus has an almost mythical status amongst F1 followers. Look at all the headlines and excitement created (not just here or in Britain) when it was announced they (or their name at least) were returning to F1.

I bet that there'll be more eyes watching Lotus when they line up at the starting grid in Bahrain next year than just about any other team (apart from Ferrari obviously). I just hope they perform well enough to not tarnish the Lotus name, but to do that they'll need a lot of money.

What is wrong with Air Asia sponsoring Lotus F1, if they can sponsir William F1 Team?

F1 remains for rich kids and will continue to be for rich kids...for those poor kids...just gawklah while your rich friends are playing with their expensive toys. This is nothing about building Malaysian Dream. For those stupid enough to join the team at lower pay...as kamaruddin said, then they are really not that smart after all. I just can't believe they really believe in the spin.

Participation in F1 is potentially a great way to promote a brand or product or country. Just think of how much it would cost to run an international advertising campaign to reach 600 million people all across the world and you will realise that F1 is inexpensive compared to other media.

The key word is "potentially" because the amount of coverage a team gets varies with how well it does. Run at the front and you gets tons of coverage, run at the back of the field and you hardly appear on TV or newspapers at all, except when you make a mistake.

The second, and more important issue, is the statement you make by participating in F1. Sure, you get worldwide brand awareness but what your brand stands for depends on how well you do. Despite all the spin, the core reason why Honda, BMW and Toyota quit was because they were getting beaten week in, week out. To lose to a supercar manufacturer like Ferrari would have been tolerable by the mass manufacturers, but when they started to lose to Force India, Red Bull and so forth they pulled the plug. After all, the ultimate sin in marketing is to spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year to tell the world that you do not even have the technology and capability to beat a tiny racing team.

"Buy a BMW, the car that gets it butt kicked every week by Force India" does not sound very compelling, does it?

The same applies to Team Malaysia, but perhaps less stringently. The Malaysian team puts Malaysia on the map as a country that possesses some technical capabilities - design, high tech manufacturing, marketing - that other developing countries do not. But the initial benefits of just making the show would only last half a season at best. After that it would depend on how well the team does. The team itself has set a good goal for the first year - to be the best among the new teams - and as long as this initial goal is met then the investment in F1 is worth it. The second year the goal would be to finish consistently in mid-pack and perhaps score a point or two.

But if Team Malaysia consistently ends up at the bottom of the pile then we would be spending hundreds of millions of ringgit to tell the world we are a bunch of posers who just want to swan around in F1 but are basically incompetent.

The Malaysian F1 team is a gamble that is well worth taking. Let us give them a couple of years to prove themselves instead of writing them off before the first lap has been run.

I feel Petronas should use their resources to promote Motorsports, and actively participate in sharing the technology. It is interesting to note that among Europeans no one knows what Petronas does... I have never seen a Petronas station in Europe. Most have no idea they are Malaysian.
I apologise for using this comment as a sounding board for my own project.
I have spoken about my pet project (google: Motorsport University malaysia) to many people. I feel that if Petronas are going to spend huge some of cash in this area, it should be with a view to leaving a lasting legacy after the oil has run out!
Should a Motorsport University be based in the region many educational and commercial institutions would be keen to participate. I am sure LotusF1 would be looked upon as good local partner among the many international ones.
Go for Motorsports. But do it in a fashion that has a lasting and positive impact on the region locally, and the wider world globally.
John Mansfield http://motorsportuniversitymalaysia.com

This is one of the most ignorant articles about F1 ever written. Not to mentioned that it is ridiculously outdated, considering it's Nov 13.

First of, Sauber should be back in the game after Toyota.
Second, if you think there is no attention on Force India, it proves that you didn't watch the F1 races this year. So that completely nulls your credentials.
Third, question on press attention on Lotus? Once again you have no idea about the press side of F1.
Fourth, poor returns on F1 advertising? You have no idea on the power, however subtle, the effect of advertising. Plus, it is a whole lot cheaper than a sustained TV campaign.

So, in conclusion, you shouldn't write about F1,period.

yes petronas sponsored bmw.. a big multi national car giant.. but now its gone...and brought by qadbak. An unknown company with unknown vision in f1. No one knows their intentions, why are they in f1, so in my point of view petronas is better of sponsor sponsoring some other teams. remember when sauber was in f1 before bmw involvement? theyre a mid running team. So kamurudin got a point there. Sponsoring lotus? why not? i dont get why people keep bashing about this lotus issues. the govt said already they dont hold any equity in the team. So why cant petronas sponsor lotus?? they've got allocation for motorsport.. So why spend it outside?