Lotus cannot bill PDVSA for Pastor Maldonado’s position

The acquisition of Lotus by Renault has been in the spotlight for weeks. Yet, days go by and few concrete developments seem to emerge, even though more and more creditors are making themselves known in the public eye. The latest one was Charles Pic during the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

But as we already pointed out during the intervention of the French driver, games of influence are currently at work to pass the desired orientation by some into the press. Thus, *Autosport* claims that the discussions between the Lotus board and Renault have been very fruitful during a meeting that would have taken place this Monday.

However, journalist Joe Saward reports that his internal sources have indicated that the said meeting has not yet taken place: « I just checked with my spies in the Lotus camp and the meeting (a teleconference) has not yet taken place. It is therefore remarkable that it was very productive before taking place. »

The discussions taking place between the different parties, however, have a concrete impact on the team’s operations: it is unable to invoice PDVSA for the 50 million dollars stipulated by the contract to run Pastor Maldonado next season. This payment is traditionally made during the summer preceding the relevant season. The situation further strains the team’s finances.

As a sign of acknowledgment of the difficulties created by the current situation, Renault has nevertheless agreed to suspend the monthly deduction made to pay the penalties for breaching the supply contract when Lotus decided to switch from Renault to Mercedes.

However, the Diamond has not yet submitted a firm and definitive offer to buy back a team that belonged to it in the past.

With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr