Tony Fernandes says he has no regrets over the decision to bring his team into Formula 1 under the Lotus title, even though the subsequent row with Group Lotus meant they have had to change their name to Caterham after two seasons.
The spat between Fernandes and the Lotus car firm over who had the right to use the Lotus brand in F1 led to the confusing situation of Fernandes' Renault-powered Lotus team racing against the Lotus-sponsored Renault team.
But for 2012 the row will be resolved, with Fernandes' squad becoming Caterham following his purchase of the British sportscar firm, and Group Lotus taking over full naming rights at what was Renault.
Fernandes denied that having to relinquish the Lotus name and change brand before their third year in F1 was a major blow, saying that his team had earned the trust of F1's fans and would thrive whatever it was called.
"Team Lotus to me has been an incredible rollercoaster," he said in an interview with the team's magazine.
"We brought Team Lotus back into Formula 1, and no one can deny us that.
"Yes, the name now belongs to Group Lotus, but I’ve come to realise that whatever we are called we are still the same team and will always have the same spirit our team has had since day one."
He admitted that in some ways it would be a relief to be free of the Lotus heritage and have a chance to build their own history as Caterham.
"I think my underlying feeling now is one of excitement, mixed with a small amount of relief," said Fernandes.
"You know, I love the Lotus name, there’s no denying that, but it was a great weight to carry and I feel that now it’s time to create our own legend.
"The Chapman days are inspirational for anyone trying to achieve greatness, absolutely, and the philosophy can carry through to what we do next.
"I think back to when I decided to start a Formula 1 team and I chose to start a team from scratch so that we could control our own destiny.
"It’s definitely not been the easiest path, but now it is our time – time to take control and make our own history."
Fernandes said he would never regret having chosen Lotus at first, and joked that he just wished he had been able to buy the car company too.
"Do I regret starting with Team Lotus?" he said.
"No, not at all.
"I'm damn proud that we brought the name back and ultimately have reunited it with Group Lotus.
"This was always my plan but the only difference was we would own it..."
He said once the opportunity to buy Caterham came up, he felt it was the best pragmatic solution so could walk away from the Lotus argument.
"With Team Lotus, I would have battled to the end if I felt it was the right thing to do, but when you take a dispassionate look at where we were it made absolute sense to start with a clean sheet, and Caterham has given us that chance," Fernandes said.
"It’s the best possible solution for where we want to go – partly because it gives us complete control over everything we do and, obviously, because there’s simply no point racing to promote a road car company I don’t own."