Lotus remain confident that Renault will complete takeover

Lotus remain confident that Renault’s planned takeover of the Enstone team will go ahead, despite the matter having gone very quiet since a letter of intent was signed in September.

Whilst it’s believed Renault staff, headed by Bob Bell, have already begun working at Lotus, the deal, which would see Renault take a majority and thus controlling stake, could still fall through.

But Lotus CEO Matthew Carter says confidence that the deal will go through before the 2016 season is “very high”.

“Behind the scenes the Renault and Lotus senior management are working flat out to make sure that we get the deal done,” he told the official Formula 1 website on Monday.

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“Things are progressing, but these things take time. I am confident that the deal is going to happen, but as I said, it needs time to get it across.

“We know that in business anything can happen and as long as there are no signatures on the documents the deal is not concluded – but confidence is very high!”

The change in ownership will also see a change in power, as Lotus – which will of course be renamed – will drop Mercedes power in favour of Renault, but with a small amount of uncertainty over the deal still present, Carter admits they’ve had to design two cars as a precaution.

“We have two options for an engine next year: either we go with Mercedes or Renault. We’ve got two designs for next year’s car and we are pushing forward with both options.

“But that is a rather unlikely option that we will go into the 2016 season with a Mercedes engine.”