Lotus: Gérard Lopez’s rant

Questioned by Autosport about the financial situation of Lotus, the team’s owner, Luxembourg’s Gérard Lopez did not fail to highlight the difficulties faced by the Enstone structure, while emphasizing the top-tier performances it achieved in the last two seasons: “We were fighting for 3rd place but the reality is that F1 is what it is, we have not been treated this way, financially speaking. And what is true for us is true for the other teams. We are running a 100m race, but in fact, we start at the 200m mark.”

The situation of Lotus has been a permanent topic of discussion for several months, to the point that the difficult and still unresolved negotiations between Genii Capital, the company that owns Lotus F1 Team, and Quantum Motorsport, the investment fund that intended to acquire 35% of the shares of the British team, have been widely commented on, even by representatives of other teams: « We find it a bit disrespectful when people start writing about our misfortunes or when others comment on them. If I had the same amount of money [as the other top teams], I would just shut my mouth and focus on my job, I wouldn’t comment on that. That’s what we find a bit ridiculous. »

He believes that Lotus’s performances deserve respect: « I expect people to have respect and realize that it’s not corporate money being spent. We are beating people who have much more money and earn much more money. Having a little respect is just – not for us [the owners], [but] for the people in the team. »

For him, the economic model of the top discipline, outside the top teams, is a problem and the tension between economic realities and sporting stakes could be off-putting: « We want to stay and succeed in F1. If it’s just survival, I don’t know if our motivation will be the same. » For F1News, Lopez even stated that this situation represents a danger for the entire sport: « For 80% of the teams, their financial situation is no better than ours. If half of these teams say they are leaving Formula 1, it would lead to the collapse of the championship. »

« This is the only reason we are open to discussions with investors. We know that we probably have one of the best teams in F1, and we know that, all things being equal, we certainly have the best team in F1. We are trying to preserve that, » he then stated to Autosport.

Quoted again by the Russian website F1News, Gérard Lopez nevertheless claims that the interest of financiers is not necessarily directed towards F1: “I can approach potential investors by saying ‘I want to sell millions of cars running on renewable energy and with hybrid technology’ and they will say ‘Wow! Let’s see what we can do!’ But if I say I want money for F1, to participate in one of the biggest sporting events in the world, you won’t get the same response.”