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To Infinity and Beyond...

2013-06-18T14:00:00Z

Lotus F1 Team is pleased to announce a new investor at Enstone, giving the team a further boost in its quest to once again reach the summit of the Formula 1 grid

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Lotus F1 Team has new part-owners as of today, with Infinity Racing Partners Limited (Infinity Racing) - an investment consortium comprised of private investors - acquiring a 35% minority stake in the team.

Lotus F1 Team was previously 100% owned by an investment vehicle of Genii Capital – a global investment management and financial advisory firm headquartered in Luxembourg – which retains a controlling stake of 65% in the team and remains as committed as ever to driving the team forwards in its quest for glory.

Gerard Lopez, co-founder of Genii Capital, will remain Chairman of Lotus F1 Team with Eric Lux, CEO of Genii Capital, continuing in his role on the team's Board of Directors. Infinity Racing will be represented at board level by Mansoor Ijaz, Chairman, and Suhail Al Dhaheri, Vice-Chairman of Infinity Racing.

This fresh investment will not only help consolidate the financial status of the team, but will also aid the Enstone outfit in maintaining development objectives as it bids for World Championship success.

Although the ownership structure may have changed, it will be business as usual for the team from a personnel point of view; the factory's 500 employees continuing their excellent work in pursuit of victory with drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean spearheading the attack under the unchanged Lotus F1 Team banner.

Gerard Lopez, Chairman, Lotus F1 Team:

“Infinity Racing's principals have exceptional expertise and a proven strong track record in developing and delivering high quality technologies. This partnership will enable us to increase Lotus F1 Team's competitive advantage related to KERS technology as it becomes more central to Formula 1's push for environmentally sound racing, while also making Lotus F1 Team more marketable as a brand, opening up additional major sponsorship opportunities.”

Mansoor Ijaz, Chairman and Suhail Al Dhaheri, Vice Chairman, Infinity Racing:

“Gerard Lopez, Eric Lux and the entire Genii Capital team are building Lotus F1 Team to make it a serious competitor at every race and a winner on a par with the top racing teams in Formula 1. The recent developments at Enstone and results of the Team's high-quality drivers are testament to this. Patrick Louis, Chief Executive, and Eric Boullier, Team Principal, are continuing the time-honoured traditions of Lotus F1 Team and have re-established the Team as a competitive force in Formula 1. We are honoured to be part of the Team's forward march to the No.1 ranking and proud of the team spirit, down-to-earth nature and performance-oriented results that characterise the experts at Enstone, who endeavour to make Lotus F1 Team a title challenger in Formula 1 today.”

Eric Lux, CEO, Genii Capital:

“Genii Capital is delighted to announce this partnership between Infinity Racing and Lotus F1 Team as we continue to grow and compete for podium places. Since Genii Capital took over control in December 2009, we have been focused on growing the value of the organisation and developing the infrastructure at its Enstone headquarters. As Lotus F1 Team results have continued to improve every year, we have been waiting for the right investor who will help make the jump to the top spot in the Constructors' Championship. In Infinity Racing, we have found a partner with the right connections in addition to technological expertise and a global reach in major markets with key sponsors to achieve this goal. We look forward to working with Infinity Racing as we continue on this exciting journey.”

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Silverstone is our next stop for the British Grand Prix; the on-track action getting underway with Free Practice 1 & 2 on Friday 28th June. In the meantime, stay tuned to our Official Website, Twitter feed, Facebook profile and Google+ page for all the latest Enstone news.

Breaking Records of No Interest to Kimi Räikkönen

2013-06-09T16:00:00Z

He may have equalled Michael Schumacher's record of 24 consecutive points finishes [not that he cares] but today's Canadian Grand Prix wasn't the race the Iceman wanted...

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How was the Canadian Grand Prix for you?

My race didn't start very well and then my brakes were fading with the pedal going soft; similar to the problem we had on Friday. It wasn't ideal but at least the brakes were good enough to slow me down for the corners. Unfortunately though it meant I lost a lot of time and wasn't able to attack, plus we lost a few seconds in the pit stop which obviously didn't help either. Most of my race was just following the cars in front and defending from those behind, so not the most enjoyable day nor the most enjoyable result.

Was it frustrating to lose a place to Felipe [Massa] late in the race?

Yes, but my tyres were shot so I couldn't keep him behind me.

You equalled Michael Schumacher's points finishes record?

I don't care about that. I care about scoring the points, but not about any records.

In summary?

It's been a bad weekend, but at least we scored a few points.

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Romain Grosjean Disappointed to Miss Out on Points in Montréal

2013-06-09T15:30:00Z

Starting at the back of the grid was always going to prove an uphill battle for Romain Grosjean in today's Canadian Grand Prix, but everything looked to be going well until a wayward second set of tyres put pay to his ambitions of a points finish...

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Tell us about your race…

The tyres really didn't work for us today. Even though there was a lot of overtaking, it wasn't the most exciting race. We had a strong strategy planned and the first part of the race worked well. At the start it was difficult to get the medium tyre working properly, but once it was up to temperature I was able to make some good overtaking moves. This meant we were looking like having a strong position in the points, which wouldn't have been bad considering I started at the back of the grid.

What went wrong?

Once we fitted the supersoft tyres it all went wrong. The set we used today simply didn't work for us and they fell away after fewer than ten laps, which was a big surprise. After that, we could either try to fight a losing battle with shot tyres, or change to a new set – of mediums we decided – and see what we could do from pushing like it was qualifying. Even then, we couldn't get the last set working properly so it was a frustrating end to the race.

Positives?

The team's been working well all weekend, but the performance simply wasn't there in the car.

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Weekend to Forget for Lotus F1 Team in Montréal – 2013 Canadian Grand Prix, Race Report

2013-06-09T13:45:00Z

A tough end to a tough few days for the team; P9 / P13 the result for Kimi and Romain at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Here's how the action unfolded...

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Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03

Grid: P10
Race: P9
Fastest Lap: 1:17.766 [Lap 61]
Pit Stops: 1 [Lap 22]

Romain Grosjean, E21-02

Grid: P22
Race: P13
Fastest Lap: 1:17.607 [Lap 62]
Pit Stops: 2 [Lap 42, 53]

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Montréal Meet n' Greet – A Fan's Eye View of the Canadian Grand Prix

2013-06-09T11:00:00Z

We love Montréal; not just for the awesome city or the fantastic race track, but for the thousands of fantastic fans who flock to the lakeside venue. We caught up with a few friendly faces to see what it's all about…

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The Birthday Trio

Who goes there?

We're Richard, Mike and Thanos!

Great to meet you! How are you enjoying yourselves?

We've been here every day since Thursday and it's been awesome; even with the rain, although it's beautiful today which makes it all the better. It's our fourth year and every time it's a great weekend out. It's actually this guy's [Richard's] birthday so all the more reason to celebrate!

Well a very Happy Birthday to you! What's been your highlight so far?

Well it hasn't happened yet; the race obviously! No, apart from that yesterday was pretty cool; the changing weather made it pretty interesting and Felipe [Massa's] accident spiced up the end of qualifying with all the cars queuing up for a final lap. Thursday was awesome too; we were walking down the pit lane checking out all the garages for hours until they kicked us out!

Hopefully not for rowdy behaviour… what can Kimi and Romain do today?

It's going to be real close, but Kimi to finish third and Romain to work his way through into the points. They're always good at coming through the field! If one of the guys could win it would be amazing but [Sebastian] Vettel looks strong and Lewis [Hamilton] is always good here so it'll be pretty tough to beat those guys. Whatever happens we'll look forward to Kimi speaking to the media; that's always fun to watch!

Indeed… thanks guys!

French Connection

Good afternoon Sir! And who might you be?

I'm Sebastian and I'm here with some friends of mine for the race!

Very good, very good! That's a rather thick accent you have there…

Yes, I have come over from France just for this weekend; I love racing and I do this every year!

Great effort! That's a good selection of kit if we may say so…

Thank you! Being French I was a big fan of the team in the Renault days and of course that carried on since you guys became Lotus F1 Team. My daughter is actually called Kimi; but it's just a coincidence of course as she was born before he was driving for the team…

Of course… so, predictions for the race?

Well, the drivers both had a difficult qualifying so it will be tough to get a good result, but you can never count Kimi out of a podium and Romain was very fast here last season so let's hope for a good result! The main thing I want to see is Kimi beating [Michael] Schumacher's record for points finishes; that would be amazing!

Fingers crossed… merci monsieur!

The Young Ones

Bonjour bonjour! Who do we have the pleasure of speaking to here?

Salut! We are Maxime, Jean and Chloé

Nice to see y'all, are we having a good time?

Absolutely! We've been here all weekend and it's been fantastic; nice to finally see some sun today though!

It certainly is… what's been the best bit so far?

Qualifying! It was crazy at the end; anybody could have been on pole!

It sure was… any thoughts on the race?

It sucks that both drivers have penalties, but we think they'll fight back. Kimi will be on the podium for sure and Romain can get some good points. It's going to be exciting watching them passing everyone!

That's the spirit! Enjoy the race…

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Check This Out!

We just can't get enough of the artistic stuff! Check out our new Pinterest page for all the best behind-the-scenes shots from our Formula 1 travels, in addition to a great selection of pictures from the fans!

Lotus F1 Team

Keep in Touch!

The 2013 Canadian Grand Prix is next up here in Montréal; the on-track action getting underway at 14:00 local time this afternoon. Stay tuned to our Official Website, Twitter feed, Facebook profile and Google+ page for live session updates, in addition to all the latest paddock news.