It was already known that Team Lotus, set to be Caterham next season, and Enstone based Renault – to be renamed Lotus – will likely have their applications rubber-stamped on Thursday.
The Sunday Times also reports that Virgin could be set for an official name change.
The team is currently known as Marussia Virgin Racing, in deference to its Russian supercar partner, but the chassis continues to be called simply ‘Virgin’.
“The team are to ask the F1 Commission for permission to erase the Virgin title and replace it with Marussia”, said the British report.
Another touted change was the rebranding of Red Bull’s Renault engine deal to reflect its partnership with the luxury Nissan marque Infiniti.
Renault president Carlos Ghosn ruled that out.
“I don’t think you can have a name artificially,” he is quoted by the SID news agency. “If Renault supplies the technology you can’t say that for marketing reasons we call it Infiniti.”
He also ruled out the possibility Renault will return to the grid as a works chassis manufacturer any time soon.
“We adapt according to the circumstances but we will not change our programme in the next three to five years,” Ghosn is quoted by France’s autohebdo.fr.
“I am more comfortable with our current strategy, where next year we are the partner of four teams,” he added.
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