More than 1,000 apply for Lotus F1 jobs

1978 F1 World Champion Mario Andretti in the car that got him there; the all conquering JPS Team Lotus type 79

More than 1,000 people have applied for jobs at Lotus F1 Racing in the hope of being part of Norfolk's "formula one dream", the firm's new chief operating officer revealed last night .

About 250 jobs are expected to be created by the return of Lotus to the starting grid next season at the team's base at Hingham.

The Malaysian consortium behind the move has pledged to commit 168m ringgits (£30m) to starting up the team - and set an annual racing budget of 308m ringgits (£56m).

Chief operating officer Keith Saunt said news of Lotus's return to the track after a 15 year break had prompted a flood of job applications.

"It is very busy here in Hingham at the moment and will continue to be so for quite some time," Mr Saunt said.

"All the plant and machinery is being serviced and calibrated and recruitment is in full swing. From our original job advert we received more than 1,000 applications with people from all walks of life wanting to be a part of new Lotus F1 Racing dream.

"Starting with a virtually blank piece of paper we are really lucky to have the opportunity to employ the people that we really want in the right position, already we have a strong team in place and it is growing on a daily basis."

Mr Saunt's Formula 1 pedigree spans time with Team Lotus International, the Benetton racing team, Renault F1 and most recently Red Bull Racing, where he was chief operating officer from 2006.

Mr Saunt, who was born and educated in Norwich, said that the engineering supply chain in Norfolk was already benefitted from the return to Formula 1.

"During any car-build period even the biggest teams look to get help from high quality sub-contracting experts and we are very lucky in Norfolk to have so many great companies on our doorstep," he said.

"Of course we will also be using specialists from Europe and beyond and of course Malaysia but already we have a number of local companies carrying out work for us.

"I am even using some of the companies that helped me all those years ago while at the old Team Lotus at Ketteringham Hall and of course those guys already understand the unique demands of a Formula One Team. "There is a lot of local expertise out there and we will be drawing on it throughout the winter period."

Mr Saunt added: "As a new team we have to realistic about our debut season, there are a lot of big established teams already out there who will be very competitive from the first set of red lights but we are quietly confident that the team we are assembling, and the expertise and experience that we are building in, will see us become the best of the newcomers.

"We also expect to be challenging those established teams that are toward the lower end of the ladder pretty soon into the season. With Mike Gascoyne as our chief technical officer our development will be non-stop and I personally expect a few great moments on the racetrack in 2010."