Lotus "very confident" Renault deal will happen
Lotus F1 team CEO Matthew Carter says he remains highly confident that the Renault takeover deal will happen despite the continued delays.
The French manufacturer announced it had signed a letter of intent to buy Lotus at the end of September, after weeks of speculation about the future of the team.
But despite no further news about when the deal will be completed, Carter insists everything is progressing well.
"Renault issued a letter of intent, so behind the scenes the Renault and Lotus senior management are working flat out to make sure that we get the deal done," Carter told Formula1.com.
"Things are progressing, but these things take time. I am confident that the deal is going to happen, but as I said, it needs time to get it across.
"We know that in business anything can happen and, as long as there are no signatures on the documents, the deal is not concluded - but confidence is very high!"
Carter said the Lotus name will disappear from Formula 1 if the Renault deal goes ahead, as the French car maker will run as a manufacturer team.
"If the deal with Renault goes through, then yes," he added. "Then the team will not be called Lotus - then the name will fall out of Formula One.
"Right now we have a license to use the name Lotus - and that license will be terminated. So someone else could go for that name!
"They would run the team as a manufacturer's team, like Ferrari and Mercedes are doing at the moment."
Carter added that Lotus is designing its 2016 car for both the Renault and Mercedes engines in case the deal with the French marque does not go through as expected.
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