Sir Stirling Moss welcomed the return of Lotus to F1 and said: "I hope they are built a bit stronger than when I drove them."

The British motor racing legend drove a Lotus for two years in the early 1960s, during which he broke his back and both legs in a crash at Spa and then was left in a coma for two months following the crash at Goodwood which ended his career.

But he believes the Lotus name, which was always synonymous with daredevil racing while competing in Formula One from 1958 to 1994, will only enhance the sport.

"It's good news," Sir Stirling told Press Association Sport. "They've got the heritage, they've got the name and it's a good thing for the sport.

"We've got a batch of new cars coming in next year and Lotus' good name can only add to that."

Motor sport's world governing body, the FIA, today granted Lotus the 13th slot on next season's grid.

Although the team is based in Norfolk, 10 miles from the Lotus Cars factory, it is funded via a partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs.

It is a far cry from the days back in the 1960s when Colin Chapman made the car famous.

Sir Stirling, who celebrates his 80th birthday on Thursday, still has two mangled Lotus steering wheels hanging from the wall of the study at his Mayfair home, mementoes of his worst crashes.

He said: "The wheels kept falling off in those days, five or six of them on my car alone. I hope they don't have that malady with the new one.

"Colin Chapman was a brilliant engineer but he built the cars a bit too close to the mark. Things like the wheelshafts were not strong enough. The car was not as nice to drive as a Cooper for instance but it was certainly faster.

"It was a delicate car to handle. I would presume the modern cars are no longer like that. But in my day it was a racer. Not easy to drive, but if you had the ability probably the fastest car there was."

BMW Sauber, whose future has been uncertain because the German manufacturers are withdrawing from the sport at the end of the year, has been granted the '14th place' in the championship, meaning it will be entitled to fill any vacancy that arises on the 2010 grid.

The FIA said: "The FIA believes that a good case can be made for expanding the grid to 14 teams.

"The FIA will be consulting urgently with the existing teams regarding the introduction of an appropriate rule change to expand the grid to 28 cars in time for the first grand prix in 2010."

It is Lotus, though, who will definitely be on the grid, spearheaded by team principal Tony Fernandes, who is the founder and CEO of the Malaysian-based Tune Group, owner of the Air Asia airline.

Mike Gascoyne also returns to F1 as the team's technical director, with 20 years experience in the sport after working with Jordan, Renault, Toyota, and most recently Force India.

Most of all, Lotus' return lends history and a sense of panache to a sport which has been bedevilled by political in-fighting. The name evokes memories of world champions such as Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt and Emerson Fittipaldi, during an era in which it contested 491 grands prix, winning 79 en route to seven constructors' titles.

Sir Stirling, however, recalls his Monaco Grand Prix win in 1961 most of all.

"It was probably the best road race in my career," he said. "I'd taken the side panels off the Lotus to get a lot of air around to make it cooler. People thought the sides were dropping off. They were one of the few things that did not drop off my Lotus actually."

Lotus, who used eight different engine suppliers during their previous 37-year stint in the sport, have agreed a deal with Cosworth.