Team boss Fernandes not running Lotus team

The real running of the new F1 outfit Lotus is not performed by team principal Tony Fernandes.

The Malaysian entrepreneur is also the hands-on chief of his low-cost airline AirAsia as well as a chain of hotels through his Tune Group.

He jetted into Melbourne for the Australian grand prix on Saturday, at least three days after all the other team bosses.

And Fernandes, 45, is currently en route to South Africa, despite his native Malaysia hosting its grand prix in mere days.

But he denies he is jeopardising his ventures by having too many eggs in baskets.

"Just because one person might only be able to do one thing at a time doesn’t mean all of us are the same," he told the Financial Times.

"I can run an F1 team and run an airline, and ultimately what I’m doing is setting up businesses and putting other people in there to run them. Lotus is no different," he added.