Lotus F1 in £114m of Debt, Still Owes Raikkonen Money

Despite being one of the top teams in Formula One for the past two seasons, LotusLotusUnited Kingdom, 1952 > present68 models
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and its owner Genii Capital are heavily in debt to the tune of £114 million, or $187 million at current exchange rates.

Team owner Gerard Lopez discussed the debt with Auto Motor Und Sport magazine in Germany.

"We have around £114m of debt, of which more than £80m debt is with ourselves [Genii Capital]. Why would we demand the repayment of these debts? That makes no sense. We reconciled the money as marketing expenses. At the moment, it is important that the team goes forward," said Lopez.

That still leaves £34 million ($56 million) owed to actual creditors.

Lopez sold 35% of the team in June to an investment called Infinity Racing. He had hoped for more investment from a group called Quantum, but that deal has fallen through. Instead, that money has been replaced by sponsorship money from the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA that Pastor Maldonado brought with him when he joined the team.

"For 2014, we will have at our disposal our new sponsor PDVSA's budget. We will not generate any new debt,” said Lopez.

Kimi Raikkonen who left the team who two races left in the season because he had not been paid is still owed money. At the end of the season Raikkonen was owed €17.15 million, and, according to Lopez, Raikkonen "got part of his salary and will get the rest."

The other problem facing the team is that it still does not have a signed engine supply deal with RenaultRenaultFrance, 1898 > present189 models
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. Lotus’ engineers helped develop the Renault KERS system, and it is trying to use that to get a reduced rate on engines.

The first Formula One pre-season practice begins on January 28 at Jerez. Lotus has already announced that it will not take part, so that it can develop the car further.

Source: BBC