F1: Team Lotus wins first round of UK Court battle; Williams mulls IPO

The application for summary judgment was made by Group Lotus (Group) seeking an order that the Tony Fernandes led Team Lotus (Team) has no rights to the name. That Group lost the application is not fatal to their entire case: it simply means that the Judge decided that there are issues that must be heard at a full trial. And although some are saying that, because the Judge tossed out the application without hearing the barristers for either party, it is a strong pointer to the eventual outcome, that is not necessarily the case: it simply means that the arguments put forward in the documents before the Court were sufficient for the Judge to decide that the case should be determined on the evidence, including oral evidence. And that means a full trial.

The Judge ordered that that full trial be brought forward from the autumn to be heard in March, an unusual step.

Meanwhile, over at Williams, the team has announced that it is considering an IPO. The team says that it is in a strong financial position with a track record of sound business management and that a floatation is a logical step. But there is no doubt that fund raising is at the heart of the decision: the team's sponsorship is proving hard to build for what has, in recent years, become a middle-of-the-pack team with all the infrastructure of a front running team.

A statement from the team said "Williams F1 is considering a flotation on the stock exchange. At this stage, all we have concluded is that it is the best way to secure the future of the team and its 450 employees."