Lotus in Renault's sights

It was once there Toro Rosso, now the Renault seems to have shifted its aims towards the Lotus, with a view to a possible future acquisition, to return fully to the Circus as an official team.
For the French engineer, the 2015 season did not start in the best way, with the customer Red Bull definitely dissatisfied with the new power unit. A disappointment which the Austrian team makes no secret of, with continuous public complaints against the French company, guilty of having supplied an engine that was even worse than that of last season.

Differently however, the Toro Rosso, who is currently ahead of the "big brothers" of Red Bull in the general classification, she said she was pleasantly surprised by the progress made by Renault on the new power unit.
The idea therefore of consolidating this relationship, returning to being a main player in F1 , has recently passed through the minds of men Viry Chatillon. However, he thought about it directly to put a spoke in the wheels of the lozenge project Helmut Marko. The Red Bull in fact, it would be determined to hold on to its satellite team, which has always been a "training ground" for young talents then recruited by drink makers.
The only likely option, according to the consultant Red Bull, is that the Toro Rosso you abandon the blue livery to switch to yellow Renault, “with a view to a better marketing platform for the French”.
It is therefore understandable that Renault has veered towards other shores. There Lotusin fact.

From the pages of his blog f1-insider.com, Ralph Bach he let us know how Renault has 30 million euros available to spend on the acquisition of a team. The former technical director of Mercedes Bob Bell, now consultant for Renault, would be in charge of managing the negotiations.
According to the German correspondent, “the possible teams are Lotus, Force India, Toro Rosso e Clean".

In Malaysia Force India e Lotus they actually denied any kind of interest, with Matthew CarterCEO Lotus, who said: “The Lotus it is not for sale. We are not looking for a buyer."
“We have just signed a long-term agreement with Mercedes-Benz, which will see us involved with them until 2020. So any chatter regarding changes in the engine engineer or in the ownership of the team is absolutely out of the question", insisted the British boss.
The rumors, however, do not die down, and the Lotus it seems to have really come into the sights of Bob Bell. “This is because Bell's house is only 15 minutes from the English factory,” an anonymous source said.

But the truth is that the ex of Mercedes knows the Lotus very well, having worked on enstone during the years Benetton-Renault. The Irish engineer was also the team principal of the team for a short period in 2009, after the disqualification of Flavio Briatore e Pat symonds following the 'crash-gate' scandal.

Always according to Bach, Clean it would also be “too expensive” for Renault, while the amount put on the table by the French would not even be enough to remove the yellow paint from the Faenza car.

Nina Stefanelli