Lotus admits Renault talks taking place

Lotus has admitted it is in talks to be bought out by Renault.

The Enstone team arrived at the Hungaroring amid a dispute with tyre supplier Pirelli, as it emerged that a $500,000 payment to the Italian marque was overdue.

"We had a problem with the bank transfer," insisted deputy team boss Federico Gastaldi.

"We are not so crazy that we will make the trip from the UK to Hungary without having the money for tyres. It was just bad timing.

"In this situation there is a lot of talk but it’s a waste of time to have to refute all the rumours," he is quoted by Speed Week.

Gastaldi, however, cannot deny completely that Lotus is struggling financially, as another disgruntled supplier, Xtrac, recently filed a petition to have the team wound up.

And amid it all is the persistent speculation that the team is set to be bought back by its former owner, Renault.

Gastaldi no longer denies it.

"The talks are between Gerard Lopez and the executive board," he admitted. "But I don’t know about it in detail.

"We would welcome the return of Renault. It would be a huge advantage to have them back at Enstone. But the decision is not with us (the team), so we can do nothing except to say that we would welcome them back," Gastaldi added.