The Enstone-based team have been short on materials, and Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s chief executive, even paid their £1.5million wage bill last month. Ecclestone is anxious that the agreement with Renault is completed soon.
Renault have grown weary of their public spats with Red Bull and want to return to being a fully-fledged factory team to boost their profile. The current proposal is for Renault to acquire a 65 per cent stake at a cost of £65 million from Genii Capital, the current owners.
But with a sale incomplete, Lotus have been forced to stop paying their bills, with legal issues mounting. In Hungary, Pirelli refused to release its tyres to Lotus until just before first practice because they were late paying a £250,000 bill.