Jan.19 (GMM) Eric Boullier has moved to clarify reports about the ownership structure of the Enstone based F1 team called Renault.
French carmaker Renault SA recently sold its remaining shareholding in the team to the Luxembourg based Genii Capital investment company, a report in the Italian magazine Autosprint explained.There has been some confusion about whether new sponsor Group Lotus has already bought a share of the team or whether it merely intends to in the future.The Autosprint report clarified that Genii in fact currently owns 100 per cent of the team."Renault decided to re-focus its resources in F1 and sold its remaining 25 per cent to Genii Capital," team boss Boullier confirmed.He said the long-term agreement signed with Lotus is essentially for sponsorship at present but that it could "lead to Lotus Cars becoming a shareholder" at a later date.Meanwhile, Boullier revealed that while the R31 car will debut at Valencia next month, he is not yet sure if Magneti-Marelli's KERS system will be fitted to the car at that stage.And it has emerged that 25 engineers belonging to Group Lotus' Malaysian carmaker owner Proton will be sent for two-year engagements to work at the F1 team."It's a good way to get fresh ideas and a new way of thinking," Boullier said.
