---
title: "Renault Bought Lotus F1 For £1"
description: "But what else could the French automaker have gotten? We venture into a British dollar store and investigate."
date: "2015-12-29"
modified: "2015-12-29"
authors:
  - name: "Max Prince"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/max-prince"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/1473/renault-bought-lotus-f1-for-1"
categories:
  - "F1"
  - "News"
  - "Racing"
tags:
  - "Formula One"
  - "Lotus"
  - "renault"
---

# Renault Bought Lotus F1 For £1

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/1poundf1_hero_2.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

File this one under “things coming full-circle.” Back in 2009, Renault sold its Formula 1 team to Luxembourg-based financial firm Genii Capital, which promptly renamed the squad Lotus F1 and wrapped the cars in black-and-gold livery. Plenty of nostalgia, sure, but the numbers never added up. So, according to *The Telegraph*, Genii has [offloaded 90 percent of its stake in Lotus F1](<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/12070010/Renault-back-on-F1-starting-grid-after-1-Lotus-deal.html>). The buyer? Renault. The sum? £1.

Yes, £1.

Now, of course, that’s only a formality. The deal is incredibly complex, involving several subsidiaries, organizational restructuring, nearly £100 million in shareholder loans and swapping more than 67 million shares. But still. *One pound sterling*. Which got us thinking: Besides an F1 team, what else can £1 get you?

That’d make Jim McCarthy laugh. He’s the CEO of Poundland, one of the U.K.’s largest retail chains, a wonderful and slightly hilarious take on the American dollar store. Each storefront is (often times literally) overflowing with a bizarre assortment of products, this florescent-lit labyrinth of consumer oddities. If you’ve ever needed cat food, decorative streamers, gloss varnish and a keyring knife, Poundland is your one-stop-shop. The company’s website, embracing the whirlwind, even has a randomized shopping widget, the [Poundland Shuffle](<https://www.poundland.co.uk/shuffle>). Click the button, and it spits out random £1 product. Hosiery? Chewing gum? Superglue? WHO KNOWS, THAT’S THE FUN PART.

So, here, a brief and woefully incomplete list of things Renault could’ve bought instead of a failing F1 team.

![Several hundred eyeballs, jiggly.](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/1poundf1_googlyeyes_art_0.jpg>)

![Tuna.](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/1poundf1_tuna_art_1.jpg>)

![Sweet dart gun.](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/1poundf1_dartrifle_art_1.jpg>)

![Whatever this is.](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/1poundf1_whateverthisis_art_0.jpg>)

![Lilac spatula.](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/1poundf1_spatula_art_0.jpg>)

![Weird, gross British candy.](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/1poundf1_candy_art.jpg>)

Our take? Considering Lotus F1’s [financial health](<https://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sport/formula-one/formula-1-lotus-f1-teams-future-under-question-amid-financial-woes-moves-for-a-buyout-from-renault/story-e6frf3zl-1227510486938>) and current [on-circuit assets](<https://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/120919>), that bucket looks pretty damn good right about now. Or the tuna.

Yeah, [definitely the tuna](<https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12473/10003686/lotus-fed-by-bernie-ecclestone-after-being-locked-out-of-hospitality-unit>).

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/themaxprince>)