Could Renault be behind Charles Pic / Lotus action?

Usually we talk about the driver market at this time of year, with who, what and where for the year ahead. This year things are different, we are talking about the teams and their ownership with a number of questionable rumours flying around.

It seems to be clear that Renault are looking to buy Lotus, even Bernie Ecclestone has said that on record. At the same time Red Bull are clearly not happy with them and their current engine supply, given they are the defacto works team (although Red Bull are technically the only customer of Renault). If Renault do become a team owner, its unlikely they are going to want an uncompetitive engine and be the number two team.

Renault look to have had enough and forging their own path, that could even be outside of the sport. Whichever route they head down it looks like it could be at a cut down price. Lotus looks to be the ideal suitor, given their previous close relationship (or ownership).

Things have been complicated somewhat by Lotus just signing up for a long term Mercedes deal, although that could be easily solved in a swap with Red Bull, as they seem intent in dropping their long term engine supplier in favour of Mercedes anyway. It would require everyone to come to the table though sensibly, which could be difficult given the animosity between Red Bull and Renault.

Lotus on the other hand look like they are in trouble. We knew from a couple of years ago they needed funding, which was why Kimi Raikkonen left before the end of the season, in the mysterious cloud conveniently covered by the need for back surgery. 2014 wasn’t a great year for the team, falling to the back of the midfield pack with an uncompetitive package. A switch to Mercedes engines, combined with a better car this season has improved things slightly, but as Alan Permaine said to Sky over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend there have been little development to the car and money has been tight.

Then we come to Charles Pic, who was the Lotus test driver for 2014. He had a contract with the team which gave him a certain amount of time within the car, which the team didn’t conform to. The team have even said as much. Remember this is 2014, year down the line. The president set by Guido van der Garde who had a Sauber contract for the 2015 and went to court in Melbourne to either get into the car for the race weekend or get compensation set the president, but this was back in March, nearly six months ago. Why so late this coming into the public eye?

You have to wonder why into the second half of the 2015 season that this contractual wrangling is taking place. Although there is no evidence as such, wouldn’t it be convenient that Renault could be behind it. After all, Charles Pic was backed by Renault after driving for Caterham, and then was later placed at Lotus?

Renault seem to be looking for a ‘deal’. The engine supply option hasn’t worked with Red Bull and there isn’t another suitor who would pay the mega bucks they have to get an exclusive engine package, so then you have to look at what other options are available. Two options instantly appear, either leaving or buying a team. The most likely at the moment looks to be buying a team, but they want a ‘deal’. Force India has been rumoured, however that could be tricky given the political state within the team, a multinational corporation might not want buy in there, or Toro Rosso, which is looking more and more unlikely. The chance to set up a whole new team has past, but that would be expensive.

If you’re looking for a deal what do you do. Use your position to exploit a target which is vulnerable, in this case Lotus. A weaker target means more bargaining power, and a knocked down price for a buyout.

However, how far will they go? Do they want them to go into administration, and force a buy out that way, or will they swoop when they believe they will get a fair price?

It’s speculation, but you have to wonder why now…

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