“That’s simply a result of my network around the world, the people that
know and trust me and believe in what we’re doing and we’re going to bring
that to bear in one comprehensive unit.”
Ijaz added that his youngest brother, Mujeeb, had “astounding technological
abilities” and would be “an important part of the story”.
“I would say we will be integrally involved in the technology development
side, as the engines change next year, as technology comes to the front,”
Ijaz said. “I have a younger brother, my youngest brother, who is very
bright. Where I’ve developed the capacity in the financial sense, he’s got
the technological abilities that are quite astounding.
“His name is Mujeeb and he is the chief technology officer of A123 Venture
Technologies in Boston. He was for the better part of his career a senior
design engineer at Ford Motor Company and while he was at Ford he set the
land speed record at Bonneville, 202.9mph in a hydrogen-powered car.
“He also set, with his technology in lithium ion batteries, the land speed
record at Bonneville in the Venturi – a dragster supported by a Monaco
billionaire.
“He’s an important part of the story of what we’re doing because he brings
a certain capability as a systems integrator and an expert in battery
technology that will, I think, dramatically enhance what we’re doing
on the technological side come next season.
“My own background is engineering and science and I had a fairly significant,
long history with different kinds of engineering and science and technology
– our whole family has.”
Of the other investors in the consortium – Al Manhal International Group (Abu
Dhabi) and Universal Sports Group (Brunei) – Ijaz was remaining
tight-lipped: “I will not comment on the royal family, whether it’s
Brunei or not – I’m not going to comment on that.
“What I will tell you is the people who are part of the consortium are old,
dear friends, business partners, investors in other things that I’ve done.
They represent a critical focus of my overall investment sphere and the
activities we have as hedge fund managers and the general investment
environment in which I’ve operated.”
Lopez said the new investors would enable Lotus to increase their “competitive
advantage related to KERS technology as it becomes more central to Formula
One’s push for environmentally sound racing, while also making Lotus F1 Team
more marketable as a brand, opening up additional major sponsorship
opportunities.”