Renault to return to Formula One as factory team; will take 65% stake worth £65 million in Lotus F1 – report

It would appear that Renault’s journey towards becoming a full Formula One factory team might be coming to a happy ending, after all. According to Autosport, the French carmaker will purchase a controlling stake in the Lotus F1 Team for £65 million – the deal would see Renault land a 65% stake in the team while the remaining is split between Gerard Lopez via Genii (25%) and Alain Prost (10%).

Said deal, should it go through, would mark the return of Renault as a full Formula One works outfit since it departed the sport in 2010. It is understood that Renault will fork out an initial downpayment of £7.5 million and follow up with a £5.75 million-per-year payment for the next 10 years.

Earlier on, it was also noted that the French marque had sat down for talks with Force India on a similar deal but the relative lack of facilities possessed by the latter proved to be a major hurdle – the Lotus F1 Team, on the other hand, boasts a computational fluid dynamics programme (CFD), driver-in-the-loop simulator and a 60% scale wind tunnel. With that said, Force India remains an option.

Also, Renault is understood to have successfully negotiated a sponsorship deal, backed by CEO Carlos Ghosn, that should see it receive a budget that “would put it on a par with the likes of Mercedes and Red Bull.” As for its driver lineup, Renault is expected to keep Romain Grosjean for the future – Pastor Maldonado’s race seat, however, looks to be on shaky ground.

Moving on to the power units, Renault could possibly continue to supply engines to the Red Bull and Toro Rosso outfits for 2016 while the Lotus team retains Mercedes power until the end of its contract. Another option is for Renault to assist Red Bull in its search for a new engine supplier which, drawing on the former’s link to Mercedes-Benz, might result in the latter securing Mercedes-sourced power units, after all.

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.