Renault hopes to complete Lotus F1 takeover in week after Abu Dhabi

Joy Chakravarty 19:15 28/11/2015
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  • Shaky situation: Lotus.

    As Lotus continued its battle in one last Grand Prix this season and put together another last-minute effort to get their cars ready for Saturday’s race in Abu Dhabi, Renault Formula 1 chief Cyril Abiteboul has said an announcement regarding their takeover of the Enstone team will be made next week.

    Lotus has been in a protracted negotiation with Renault for a long time and the two companies have already signed a letter of intent in September.

    The future of Lotus’ participation in the 2016 season of F1 completely hinges on the proposed takeover by the French manufacturer.

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    Like it happened at the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this year, Lotus freight did not arrive at the Yas Marina Circuit until Thursday, almost two days behind schedule, because of non-payment of bills. It was a race against time for their engineers to get the cars ready for the practice on Friday.

    When asked about Renault’s plans for 2016 during the team principals’ press conference, Abiteboul said: “I’m afraid I can’t answer that question. I would like to be in a position to be able to answer that question, but I am not today.

    “What I can say is that there will be no announcement regarding Renault’s future over the weekend, but there will be an announcement, very likely, in the course of next week.

    “We have always said that we would like to do that after the season. What we will do is stick to that plan, which is to make an announcement then.”

    On the delays despite signing the letter of intent, Abiteboul said: “It’s typical Formula One. It has been a proper roller coaster for us, for me, but also for the whole team.

    “It’s fair to say that there is a process going on since the signing of the letter of interest on September 28, there is a process involving a lot of people.

    “I think 50 people have been working night and day on the realisation of a possible acquisition of a majority stake in Lotus. It’s a project, a proper roller coaster, very exciting.”

    Lotus deputy team principal Federico Gastaldi could not thrown any further light on the situation despite revealing that Renault officials were already working at their factory.

    “We’re on the same page,” he said. “We’ve been working all the time since the Singapore race.

    “We have Renault people already at the factory and it doesn”t change anything, they are the ones that have to announce. We cannot push Renault to make the decision because it is their call.”

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