I know that many readers think that I am overly supportive of Tony Fernandes. I have explained why in great detail in previous blog items and in replies to comments. To save you having to dig that out, I will paraphrase a little. Tony is a businessman. A very good one. He saw an opportunity in Lotus and he took it. He convinced Proton’s management to grant him a five-year licence to use the Lotus name in Formula 1. His goal was to use success in racing to revive the moribund Lotus brand and then reverse that success back into buying the car company. Fernandes is a race fan and understood that Lotus is a valuable brand – a company with a history of legends, but which has suffered in recent years under the management of Proton, which is not the most dynamic car company in the history of the world. Proton has a record of failing to make the most of what it has, notably in relation to the motorcycle company MV Agusta, which it acquired for €70 million in 2005. A year later Proton gave up on the idea of reviving the brand and sold the business to the Genoa-based finance company GEVI for one Euro, on the basis that GEVI would buy the debts of €107 million as well. A few months later GEVI sold MV Agusta subsidiary Husqvarna motorcycles to BMW for €93 million, which set the company on course for success again, and led to speculation that Proton might have done a better job…

Anyway, having sorted out an F1 entry and a licence to use the Lotus name, Fernandes went about reviving the Lotus name with sensitivity and sound logic. He picked the right place for the factory, chose the right kind of people to run the show and used the right car designation. He also had the Chapman Family support. These were all very intelligent moves. There are no harsher critics than the F1 media and Fernandes carefully won them over – and with them came the fans.

If you ever have the opportunity to meet the man, you will understand. He is passionate, in the finest traditions of Formula 1 team bosses before they became either sleazy or overly corporate. He is a man who is larger than life; a born leader; and a man who is truly enthusiastic about the sport. That is just my opinion, but when I ask around what people think, I get the same answer. I was having a conversation recently with a team boss and we agreed that the greatest skill that someone in his position can have is that the staff would jump off a cliff if he asked them to do it. The Lotus people would do that, just as the folk at Williams would do it for FW and the people at Ferrari would do it, full stop. Frank is actually one of Tony’s biggest fans, having had him as a sponsor for some years. He is an impressive businessman who has achieved a great deal, not least building a vast airline that actually makes money, but also an empire based on the same basic principle of giving the new middle classes in Asia the opportunity to do things that they could not do before: own a mobile phone; take a cheap flight; stay in a sensibly priced hotel and have their own credit card. No, he’s not philanthropic in this respect, he’s making money, but he is also developing his country. And it is not just me who rates him highly. Forbes just named him Asian Businessman of the Year, which is no small achievement.

In the last few days I have read a great deal from Group Lotus and others about Fernandes being a bad guy. And I long ago learned that one needs to always consider the source before getting upset about what they say. Dany Bahar is a man who I have heard NOTHING good about. I had not thought of it before now, but the best I have heard people say is that he is a good presenter. He talks a good game. All the other feedback I have ever heard from anyone has been negative. And I cannot list his achievements because there do not seem to be very many of them. He goes from one job to the next and never seems to leave people happy.

Why are so many team owners opposed to helping him at all in F1?

Why are there rumours that one of his former employers is about to commence legal action against him? That does, of course, bring me to the question of why the Malaysians trusted him when they gave him control of Lotus. I understand that now they may be having second thoughts, because his business plan is way too good to be true, and it is all costing a great deal of money, and there is a risk that the money will run out before anyone starts buying Lotuses. But what can they do? Can they accept they made a mistake and fire him?

No, people in politics and business rarely like to say “I made a mistake”. It is not good for their image.

Bahar told some media the other day that Fernandes is asking too much money in settlement. Fernandes says that there was no offer. There were certainly discussions, but if there was no offer, there was no offer and it really does not matter what Bahar thinks about the price. He can ignore Fernandes as much as he likes – and say that Renault sponsorship in F1 was a third the price of settling with Fernandes – but if Group Lotus loses the lawsuit, Bahar will have his trousers around his ankles. It would undoubtedly be wiser to try to find a settlement – which is something that Fernandes is smart enough to have suggested.

Gérard Lopez and Eric Boullier have joined in the attacks on Fernandes. I am not surprised by Lopez. Initially I was impressed. He sounded like an intelligent guy, but it turned out that all his marketing blah-blah-blah was just that. He wants to use F1 to create a B2B market, which will create billions of dollars of business and he will get a slice of the pie for inviting one lot to talk to the other lot. Brilliant.

McLaren has been doing that for 20 years.

Got any new ideas, Mr Lopez? When he makes some money I will be impressed. So far I am not – and obviously Renault was not impressed either…

I must say that I was surprised to see Eric Boullier being so openly critical of Fernandes. I like Boullier and I think he has done a decent job so far, but to say that Fernandes has fooled the fans is outrageous. But I guess one dances to the tune that the bosses dictate… which, Eric, is why it is best to be the boss and not simply working for those who think they know all the answers…

The whole Lotus thing will be settled in the courts. I am not a lawyer but I believe, based on the evidence that exists, that Fernandes will win. I don’t like to see a good guy being bullied by people who have proved nothing… Time will tell.