Maldonado re-signed!

[j2 lot]

Pastor Maldonado has been kept on a Lotus, or whatever it becomes, he must have mighty deep pockets

[robin]

Or they will ditch his contract when they go bust ...

[jason]

.... he must have mighty deep pockets

He has one of the safest seats in F1. Whatever team's car that seat happens to be in. PDVSA are one of the biggest sponsors in F1, paying Lotus around $50m per year for Maldonado to drive.

Lotus's financial turmoil has worsened since the Renault negotiations uncertainty means they've been unable to confirm Maldonado for 2016 which has prevented invoicing PDVSA for his drive next year. They would otherwise have received those PDVSA 2016 funds by now. So I guess today's announcement is to enable that invoice (not that there's been any new Renault news).

[tut]

Word today is that Renault will take over Lotus.

tut

[robin]

Why would they? Renault don't have a lot of money to play with here, so they need to be canny. Their best chance of buying the team is from the administrator. They need to ensure the team doesn't lose it's entry, but you can see from the Manor/Marussia debacle that this is possible.

That way the team's debts don't become Renault's debts. Of course that's a disaster for the suppliers, but Renault didn't run up those debts, Lotus did (of course not Lotus as we know it).

I agree that Renault might choose to pick up Maldonado's contract to help make a year in the sport cheaper, but in the long run, if they're in it, they should be in it to win and thus Crashtor must go.

Cheers,
Robin

[tut]

Looks as if there is quite a lot in the balance, Red Bull stated that they only have one choice of engine, Ferrari, as Mercedes have refused to supply them. I think that Renault will take over Lotus shortly.

"The Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko warned that the alternative would be to walk away. “If we don’t have a competitive engine, we will leave Formula One,” he told Sky Sports at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Mateschitz was commenting after Carlos Ghosn, chairman of Renault’s board, made clear this week that the French carmaker would either buy a team or leave the sport, rather than be an engine supplier to others."

tut

[j2 lot]

Renault may yet walk and Lotus signing Maldonado ahead of any deal would suggest they are not close to sorting things out with Renault yet as it complicates the deal.
RB have a deal for Ferrari engines as a 2 year stopgap until they become VW team with RB sponsorship.

[Dominic]

W They need to ensure the team doesn't lose it's entry,

I would think that F1 is sufficiently desperate for teams that it would not be too difficult to get an entry. IMHO

[robin]

Yes but the lotus entry carries some credit for future championship payouts based on finishing positions in previous years. If you lose your entry, you lose that money too ...

[Dominic]

Yes but the lotus entry carries some credit for future championship payouts based on finishing positions in previous years. If you lose your entry, you lose that money too ...

Ah, I see.

[campbell]

The word from the UK is that an agreement has been signed between Lotus F1 Team and Renault for the French manufacturer to have an option to buy the team. The price of the option is believed to be little more than a payment to settle the dispute with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. This means that the team will avoid being put into administration on Monday. Renault will now move forward on the purchase, with the goal being to take control of 70 percent of the team. The previous owners will still have some equity left in the team, but are likely to take a major financial hit as Renault is not believed to be offering the previous shareholders much money. It could be that there will be long term profits, in which case they will be able to recoup some of the losses incurred, but it will be a long time before that happens – if it ever happens.

There is a suggestion that there may be a window for another buyer to deliver a payment before a deadline in the next couple of hours, but if this does not happen, Renault will have won the game.

Renault bids for Lotus F1 Team…
https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2015/09 ... s-f1-team/

[jason]

.... he must have mighty deep pockets

He has one of the safest seats in F1. Whatever team's car that seat happens to be in. PDVSA are one of the biggest sponsors in F1, paying Lotus around $50m per year for Maldonado to drive.

...though not that safe if PDVSA enter payments dispute with Renault and dissolve their contract!

Great news for Kevin Magnussen who will be replacing him

[j2 lot]

Maldonado confirmed he's not driving in 2016 ( presumably his oil money has dried up)

[campbell]

I read on joeblogsf1 that it's all gone a bit Pete Tong in Venezuela. Nae luck Pastor.

[kenny]

A liability that should never have been anywhere near a Formula 1 car.