03/11/2013
NEWS STORY
The head of a consortium which is buying a 35 percent stake in the Lotus F1 team says the deal is done.
The consortium, formerly known as Infinity Racing Partners but subsequently changed to Quantum Motorsports so as not to cause confusion with Red Bull title sponsor Infiniti was first announced in mid-June.
However, in the wake of reports coming out of Enstone regarding numerous unpaid suppliers and Kimi Raikkonen's revelation that he has not been paid "a single euro this year" there were fears the deal had fallen through. Not so, insists Mansoor Ijaz (pictured), chairman of the consortium.
"We're going to clear off the debt, and then we're going to bring very high quality sponsors which you'll see very soon," he told reporters in Abu Dhabi. "Those sponsors will give us the longevity and capacity to compete at the top end of the business for a long time.
"They are going to pay a lot of bills this week, let's put it that way," he added, referring to the Enstone outfit. "We've asked them to make sure things get paid as quickly as possible."
Of course, one of those at the front of the queue will be Raikkonen and his management.
"I met with Kimi's manager Steve Robertson last night," said Ijaz. "I've apologised to Steve, we've apologised to Kimi. We intend to not only make sure that they are made whole, and then some, we are intending to also compensate our employees and management team."
Referring to Raikkonen's threat that he may boycott the remaining two races, Ijaz said: "I am confident that he will run the last two races and fulfil his professional obligations to us and us to him."