Quantum Motorsports has completed a deal which will see it take a 35 per cent stake in the Lotus F1 Team following lengthy negotiations.
The group, made up from Middle Eastern investors and led by Mansoor Ijaz, has completed its side of the deal and is now awaiting Genii Captial – Lotus’s current owners – to sign it off, which is expected to be a formality.
Genii will issue new shares in the company which will be purchased by Quantum for an undisclosed figure, allowing them to invest in new facilities, settle debts and pay off Kimi Raikkonen’s wage which has been the source of anger between Raikkonen and Lotus bosses.
Speaking about the deal, Ijaz revealed that future plans could include taking control of the entire team.
“We have options – I won’t go into the details of those options – but the options do allow us in a fixed amount of time to take control of the team later on,” he told Autosport.
With the deal done, it’s believed Lotus will now be able to hire Nico Hulkenberg as Raikkonen’s replacement instead of Pastor Maldonado who was a back-up should the deal not proceed.
