It was relatively easy to determine the most British Formula 1 team last year. It was Virgin Racing, with no obvious foreign involvement at all: Virgin, Wirth Research, Manor Motorsport, Lloyds Banking Group – all British.

But thanks to Virgin Racing’s new title sponsor and shareholder, Marussia Motors, the team is going to race under a Russian licence in 2011. So it is no longer the most British Formula 1 team. Which team is?

There were two other contenders for the title last year: McLaren and Williams, the other teams competing under a British license. They are joined in 2011 by Lotus Renault GP. So those are our possibilities.

Lotus Renault GP

Let’s take the newcomer first. Regardless of ownership, the team was just plain Renault F1 Team last year, and French as a result. Now, in deference to new title sponsor Lotus Cars, it’s a British license for Lotus Renault GP. I’m not going to get into the Lotus argument – though here’s a handy guide to it all if you need a recap.

The fact is, the nationality of Lotus Renault GP is complex. Lotus Cars is certainly involved – based in Britain, but basically Malaysian. Renault is still the name on the chassis – and engine, for that matter – and that’s French. The team is owned by Genii Capital, based in Luxembourg.

In short: it’s not the most British F1 team.

Williams vs McLaren

There’s been a bit of a change at Williams too, with the decision to float the company on the Frankfurt stock exchange. Frankfurt isn’t very British, and adds to the existing non-Britishness of the team’s minority shareholder, Austrian Toto Wolff. It’s largely Patrick Head’s share of the company that is being off-loaded; Frank Williams and Wolff are broadly maintaining their stakes.

No change at McLaren though: there’s still the Bruce McLaren link to New Zealand, and shareholders based in Bahrain – now awkwardly topical – and Luxembourg.

It’s between Williams and McLaren, then, and there’s not a lot in it. Both race under British licenses, both based in Britain, both have ownership split between Britain and overseas.

Williams have a British engine – Cosworth, from Northampton. But McLaren’s title sponsor, Vodafone, hails from Newbury, and both McLaren drivers are British. I think that swings it away from Grove and towards Woking.

Result: McLaren!

So that’s it: McLaren is the new most British Formula 1 team. Well done to all involved.