Lotus boss plans to step down soon

The Malaysian aviation entrepreneur has been named the boss of the new Lotus outfit, but wants to hand over responsibility to someone else within a matter of months.

"The team principal [position] is not something that is going to be permanent," he told news agency Reuters. "I am going to get it [the team] to a stage and then someone can do it full time, properly.

"My job is AirAsia and I just want to make sure that we [Lotus] have the right direction, the right imaging and the right future, the right strategic plan and marketing."

When asked for a time frame for him stepping down, he said: "I think up to about Melbourne, maybe. Maybe I'll enjoy being the team principal for a couple of races and I think then we'd move it on to someone else."

Lotus is expected to announce its two drivers at the end of October, and Fernandes has insisted that, despite the Malaysian support for the team, there was no need for it to run home grown talent.

Instead, he thinks the team's efforts would be best served by bringing on board an experienced F1 driver.

"My personal preference would be to try to get someone with lots of experience, even though he may be ending his career, who can add a lot of experience and develop the car," he added.

"Having the right personality that can transfer knowledge and enjoy working with people, I think is critical... there's no point throwing someone in at the deep end if he's not ready either."