Formula 1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone does not believe the Lotus F1 Team will be on the grid in 2016 should the proposed deal with Renault fall through.
Ecclestone has been in talks this past weekend in Abu Dhabi with Renault Sport executive Jerome Stroll about the future income for the team should the Enstone team again become a works Renault outfit.
Lotus Team Principal Gerard Lopez has spoke about the possibility of the team using Mercedes power in 2016 should the Renault deal collapse, but Ecclestone does not believe the team’s finances will allow them to return to the grid without Renault.
“I’m sure they’ll stop,” said Ecclestone to Motorsport.com. “They are running a business unsuccessfully, they haven’t got enough money to keep going.
“So they’ll stop. They’re in trouble with finance anyway, so I can’t see that a Mercedes contract is going to help.”
