Lotus Racing will have black and gold livery on its 2011 cars – and the team wants you to help them design it.

With 2010 being the Malaysian-backed, Hingham-based team's first on the Formula One grid, it sported a green and yellow look on the T-127 to resurrect the iconic image Lotus originally brought to the sport.

And although there is plenty of uncertainty surrounding the outfit's name for next season due to a legal dispute with Group Lotus, Lotus Racing has announced it will be running a competition to help design its 2011 livery.

The team calls the change part of the 'evolution' for its second season in F1, while the change will do little to play down its Lotus links – the black and gold will provide another evocative image, given Team Lotus' classic John Player Special 77-type as driven by the likes of Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson in the 1970s.

Head of marketing Silvi Schaumloeffel said: 'We have worked all year to make sure our fans are given unprecedented access to our team. We are all very excited about the move to a black and gold paint scheme for next season, and we want our fans to help us design the livery that will be racing around the world next year.

'We will shortly be announcing exactly how the fans can take part in our design process...the person who designs the livery we finally choose will be joining us at our first test next year to see the car out on track for the very first time, so for Lotus and F1 fans it is the chance of a lifetime to help us take the next step forward in our amazing story in 2011.'

Lotus Racing will unveil full details of the competition on its website – www.lotusracing.my

Chief executive Riad Asmat added: 'When we first unveiled our 2010 car there was unanimous praise for our decision to bring the historic green and yellow livery back to the modern F1 grid. I know the return to the track of the legendary black and gold will be met with even more universal support as it strikes such an emotional chord with fans around the world.

'Giving those fans the chance to help us bring it back to the contemporary grid is true to our core belief of putting our supporters right at the heart of Lotus Racing – we can't wait to show the world what we come up with.'