I'm pretty sure I read an interview with Mike Gascgoyne just after the launch of the new car that said it wasn't trying to be the original Lotus but hoped the team would operate in the same spirit. That seemed to me to put the nail in the coffin for the team being a continuation.
This new development, though I'm delighted by it, does complicate the issue even further. On the face of it, if you look at what they will have from the start of the 2011 season, I really can't see how the team is anything other than a direct continuation of Lotus Grand Prix circa 1994/5.
The original Team Lotus shares were sold by the Chapman Family and Fred Bushall to Peter Windsor in 1990 and had long been seperate from Group Lotus prior to that. David Hunt purchased the team assets in late 1994 and almost managed to put something together for 1995 prior to signing a deal to run the Lotus name on Pacific GP cars in order to try and keep the name alive while he looked for further sponsors. It is these assets and history that are now owned by Lotus F1 Racing. So they own the name, the badge, the rights to the teams GP cars, the team history, they are based in Norfolk and have firm links with Group Lotus. That's about as original as you can get.
I think, as silly as it sounds, that from 2011 Team Lotus will be back on the grid and the team that existed for 2010 while the same team is a seperate statistical entry. Much in the same way that Honda > Brawn > Mercedes is pretty much the exact same team over three seasons but three different entries.
To cap it all and further muddy the waters, Autosport in their recent article on Williams' return to the points claimed that while 5 season without a win is a long time for Williams', Lotus haven't won a GP since 1988. Once again suggesting that Autosport consider Team Lotus and Lotus F1 Racing to be one and the same thing.