Lotus deputy team princpal Federico Gastaldi has hit back at the negative claims surrounding the teams future and finances.
The Enstone team was recently embroiled in a legal battle with former driver Charles Pic which resulted in their cars being impounded at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Whilst that was resolved amicably, the team were in the High Court earlier this week after failing to pay its business tax bill to HMRC on time. That case has been adjourned until next week.
Gastaldi remains confident the team’s future is secure, pushing aside the negative rumours.
“They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Things have certainly been tight and we’ve embraced the Japanese just-in-time philosophy a little too literally on occasions,” he said.
“All this has been necessary but we keep fighting the good fight. We believe in the team; we believe in Formula 1 and we believe we’ll still be here fighting for the rest of this season and beyond.
“Don’t believe any of the negative rumours you hear,” he added. “Everything is under control. Certainly, this is a lean-running year and you wouldn’t want to attempt running much leaner.
“Thankfully we do have some fantastic partners, all of whom understand the situation and are tremendously supportive. I need to clarify some misunderstanding too, all our sponsors and partners have paid on time and some even ahead of time.
“We’re certainly a pretty long way from being flush with money – unlike some of our rival teams – but we’ve done what has been necessary to make the team far more efficient and viable going forward.”
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