Mansell glad to see return of John Players colors

Nigel Mansell says he is delighted that Renault Lotus will return to Formula 1 sporting the iconic black and gold livery made famous first, in the seventies, by Colin Chapman’s team in the days of Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronnie Petersen and Mario Andretti. In the eighties, after several years away from F1, John Player Special (JPS) returned to sponsor Lotus with the likes of Ayrton Senna, Elio de Angelis and Mansell himself in the team at the wheel.

Mansell, the 1992 F1 world champion, told Lotus Enthusiast website, “I am delighted to see the return of Group Lotus to Formula One through their acquisition of an equity stake in Renault F1. It is particularly pleasing for me to see the union of Lotus and Renault again and the return of the iconic black an gold colors as driven by the late greats Ayrton Senna and Elio de Angelis, Johnny Dumfries and of course, myself in the 80’s."

He added, “I have particularly fond memories of this combination as I drove a Lotus-Renault to its first podium at the 1983 European GP. Ayrton followed that up with an incredible maiden win in Portugal in 1985."

Although the famous color scheme conjures up connections with JPS cigarettes, the new Lotus Renault team will not be sponsored by the tobacco company in any way whatsoever.