Lotus deputy Federico Gastaldi says he is still waiting for Renault to make its decision about buying the Enstone team. It is a harrowing time for the financially-crippled black and gold-coloured team, who have faced off recently against angry unpaid suppliers and even the British tax authorities. But Gastaldi said the fight with former reserve driver Charles Pic, resulting in team equipment being seized by court bailiffs at Spa, is at least now over. Asked if bailiffs will be visiting the paddock at any forthcoming races, he told Bild newspaper: “No, that’s all settled. “There was a dispute and both sides exchanged legal documents and now the issue is settled. “I spoke to Charles on Sunday, and he apologised for what happened. He was wrong to behave like this, but now it is behind us,” Gastaldi added. What is now immediately in front of Lotus is next weekend’s Singapore grand prix, with some believing that if Renault’s decision is not made quickly, the embattled team might be absent. And the delay might also be affecting Lotus’ current drivers, as La Gazzetta dello Sport says the new entrant Haas is now closing on pairing Romain Grosjean with Ferrari’s Esteban Gutierrez for 2016. There are also rumours that Pastor Maldonado’s crucial backers at PDVSA are holding back a due payment to Lotus amid the uncertainty. Gastaldi said: “We are in talks with Renault and waiting for the final approval. We cannot put pressure on a global corporation like Renault, but we have already worked with them — we know each other. “One thing is clear: we would of course like to work with them as soon as possible. So we can develop the car for next year.” As for Singapore, he insisted: “We will go there and do the race and hopefully it will be better than Monza.” (GMM) http://www.thisisf1.com/2015/09/09/...ities-settled-waiting-for-the-final-approval/
Is the confusion close to coming to an end? Renault sign letter of intent to buy controlling stake in Lotus F1
For the sake of the guys and gals at Lotus, I hope so! Irony.. Lotus now look secure whilst Redbull are still threatening to walk away...
Even more irony will be involved if the Renault unit is actually pretty good when they bring in those 11 tokens of development over the next few races...
It maybe decent but Redbull have already said they won't run it and it appears the Jnr team will follow suit.. So, we'll never know.. shame, would like to see the look on Little Jack Horners face had the PU been a considerable improvement on the current incarnation
Being very cynical, I wonder if in late 2015 Renault decided they had had enough of Red Bull slagging them off. So they decided to buy Lotus as cheap as possible and to get out of their engine supply contract without buying their way out. Plus Renault know Merc and Ferrari won't be eager to supply power units to Red Bull because of their chassis, so Red Bull could actually follow through on their statements to quit. i.e. don't improve the engine so Red Bull pull out of the contract and maybe pay Renault to tear up the contract. While developing the engine such that they spend all tokens and homologate their power unit at the last race of the 2015 season. Then with rumours of a possible take over of Lotus the money from Pastor's sponsors would be delayed as PDVSA isn't really a great fit for Renault and Total. Thus creating uncertainty and reducing any money Lotus thought they had from their owners. Which subsequently makes the Lotus team cheaper, in fact if Renault manage to twist Bernie's arm they may be able to actually buy Lotus without spending a penny. OK so the above is all pure speculation and putting 2 and 2 together to make 5. It would be a master stroke of planning if that is what Renault are doing? Any other conspiracy theories????
