Lotus to be saved from receivership by Renault

I understand from following the Qualifications on Autosport "Live" That Renault has Just officially confirmed, half an hour ago, by letter That they Will close the buy on Monday?

 

The Autosport story;

Would be good to have Renault back.

 

Well seems like 1 team is saved right now...

Hope Red Bull gets an engine so they stay too!

 

Wonder how they owe the kimster

 

Probably indirectly means Renault is not involved in Dieselgate as well....

 

But not a Ferrari engine. And frankly I don't care if they disappear. They burned their bridge with Renault, and now the engines seem to have come good.

 

..

 

Yeah, some poetic justice here ...

 

They'll be there next year with Maranello power pushing them along.

(And it will be the closest we'll ever get to an Adrian Newey Ferrari!)

 

Tell them we don't want payment for engines, we want newey instead. They'll get slow, we will get quick, and wipe the smile off the faces of the merc triumvirate of toto, Niki and Elton.

 

There is no guarantee of Ferrari though, is there?

It would be fantastic though if Ferrari sent them engines that didn't explode like last time, would make for a great season.

 

Nope!..... Most of these guys aren't making "good" money; They do it 'cos they want to and not for a fat pay check.

Those #'s just don't add up in my mind.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Seems Bernie's beavering away on getting them Ferrari lumps; And as we know, what Bernie wants, Bernie gets.......

+1

That appears to be the stumbling block; Ferrari want to supply them "year old" PU's, and Mr M is, basically, saying "**** that!"

All should be revealed by the middle of this week.......

Cheers,
Ian

 

REd Bull cornered itself in a tight spot. I has burn bridges and now it's gone begging for engines!

Frankly, I hope Mateschitz puts his threat to execution and closes down both teams.
I think that would be good for the long term of F1.

I won't shed a tear over the loss of these teams, and that may open the eyes to Bernie and Todt, that their series is in danger.

I don't know how far F1 is saleable to organisers and TV channels with a depleted field, but the FIA and FOM are responsible for that mess.

As for asking some teams to run a third car, it's a bit late in the day for that. That requires planning and extra funding.

I do hope Arrivabene tells Mateschitz, Horner, Marko and Co that they can have last year engine s at most and nothing else. With all the investment poured in the Scuderia, I think Marchionese would be livid if next year, the Scuderia was beaten by Red Bull with a Ferrari engine.

 

Renault answers Lotus' call with buyout - PlanetF1 : PlanetF1

Saved

 

It's only a letter of intention, not a deal yet.

It seems that Renault is putting pressure on Genni to clear the debts first before acquiring their share of the team. That way, they keep some levarage to negotiate the value of the team.

It's not an unusual practise for investors buying into an ailing company.

 

While true it's "only" a LOI, that's hugely significant; Short of them finding evidence of fraud or the like while doing their due diligence, the deal will happen.

I believe one hurdle was their insistence that they be given "historical status" by Bernie - Don't know if that's been confirmed as yet, but expect an announcement soon.

As for their debts, they certainly have those! Autosport reports they owed UKP 27,000 for their hospitality unit from last season, and decided it "wasn't a priority"..... If they can't pay that drop in the ocean, they've got a lot more to worry about.

It's all now about negotiation; how much debt will Renault take on versus it coming off the sale price?

But, nevertheless, I believe the deal is basically done - In my (admittedly limited) experience of these things, no announcements of this nature are made unless it's 99.9% done.

Cheers,
Ian

 

I believe Renault is playing a clever game, probably to save time, and gets what it wants.

They throw a lifeline to Genii to get them some breathing space with the creditors, without committing themselves. At this point, the letter of intention could be void if Renault is able to claim that some facts were withdrawn from them.

Acquiring the "historical status" would boost Renault's shares of the FOM proceeds, and also ensure them a seat in the Strategic Group. Renault is obviously keen to obtain those from Bernie as conditions to close the purchase and keep the team alive.

 

^^^
+1 Renault has proved to be very clever, and Red Bull (although saavy) just "looks" plain stupid.

(Various articles are already calling them Team Lotus/Renault)

 

I would think there's no dummies on either side of the table.....

Possible, but very unlikely. This is why they do their "due diligence". I'd guess there's teams of bean counters & attorneys in there right now combing thru *everything*. My company got bought long ago - It was almost insane how many folks they had on-site; I swear they looked at everything from the computers thru to lifting the carpets to check for termites!

One of the reasons these things take so long; Both sides are doing a lot of ass covering so as to not get burnt.

Indeed - it's the seat on the SWG that's one of the keys. Although, aren't they already there as a PU supplier? Don't know if they "split" the group at times? Like "PU suppliers only" & "manufacturers only"? No matter, it's definitely one of their pre-requisites, and they do have a legitimate case IMO. I'm sure Bernie will agree.

Cheers,
Ian

 

I wonder if they'll stay with that or become just "Renault"? I know Bernie doesn't like name changes, and can withhold prize money if it happens, but surely they'll want to be just Renault when the time comes?

Unfortunately, if the latter, we'd lose Lotus, I suspect forever.

OK, I've called them "Fauxtus" many times over the years, they have zero to do with the "turnip farmers in Norfolk" as JC calls them, but it remains an iconic name nevertheless.

Cheers,
Ian

 

One thing for sure, this is very difficult to guess, even from France: you would be forgiven to think that Renault would at least communicate some snippets of information about what they intend to do with the team, how they intend to turn a-not-so-good-powerplant into a winning one, their strategy, objectives, timeframe, etc: but as for the time being: zilch, nada, nothing, nichts, nitchevo: rien de rien.

Perhaps they are waiting until the buy will be completed?

Rgds

 

That would be my guess. Get all the i's dotted & t's crossed before announcing what they're planning. Not to mention getting some of their own people in there in positions of "power" & making decisions.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Is Flavio Briatore still banned for Life from F1?

Rgds

 

AFAIK, yeah.

I'm surprised he's even allowed in the paddock TBH; I thought it was a complete ban from any FIA sanctioned event. But that seems to have dropped by the wayside, so who knows?

Cheers,
Ian