Lotus’s owners, the investment group Genii Capital, have significant business
interests in Russia. Russian mobile phone maker YotaPhone also started
sponsoring the team this year. The team have been struggling financially in
recent years and it is widely known that many people at Lotus were not being
paid in 2013. Kimi Raikkonen even cited it as one of the main reasons for
his departure to Ferrari.
Samson was also told his dismissal was partly as a result of the infamous
‘rabbit’ tweet last September when it was announced Raikkonen was leaving
Lotus. He told Telegraph Sport: “The tweet was part of the Lotus F1
approach, cheeky and disruptive.”
A spokesman for the team said: “There’s no comment at the moment. It’s in the
hands of the lawyers.”
The letter from Lotus’s city lawyers, Withers LLP, on June 13, read: “Your
client had shown, on more than one occasion, a serious lack of judgment
which had a significant negative impact on our client.
“You may be aware that your client posted a tweet on 7 February 2014 on our
client’s Twitter feed in relation to the Sochi Winter Olympic Games which he
knew (or should have known) could cause serious reputational and financial
damage to our client. This tweet came not long after his posting on our
client’s Twitter feed of another seriously unprofessional tweet on 11
September 2013 in relation to the departure of Kimi Raikkonen from our
client’s team to Ferrari.
“Again, your client should have known that this tweet was wholly
unprofessional and would damage the reputation and credibility of our
client. These tweets displayed an astonishing lack of judgement on your
client’s part and, in consequence, on our client took the decision to end
its relationship with your client.”
The reaction to Samson’s tweets on Sunday night regarding his position was
largely divided.
The Russian Grand Prix has become hugely controversial since the crisis in
Ukraine. While Jean Todt, the FIA President, has insisted the event will go
ahead, it is likely that F1 will only really find out if the race will be
staged in the weeks leading up to it in November.