Switch to Mercedes good for Lotus

Talk around the paddock that Lotus would be switching engine supplier for the 2015 Formula One World Championship had been circulating for sometime.

The rumour was that the Enstone team, who has had links with Renault since 1995 would be dumping the Renault power-train for the all conquering Mercedes for next season.

A slot opened up for Mercedes to provide engines to another team following the news that McLaren would be switching from Mercedes to Honda power.

The deal was in the pipeline for several weeks, but was finally confirmed in Russia.

As well as providing the engines for their own Mercedes AMG team, the Silver Arrows customers for 2015 will be Lotus, Force India and Williams.

But unlike other customer deals Lotus will continue to design and build their own gearboxes.

‘Clearly Mercedes has the engine; we expect them to continue having it – they’ve just done a better job, And we were one of the rare independent teams that could have access to that engine. Lotus owner Gerard Lopez told Autosport Magazine.

‘I think for the team it was the right choice. Not making that choice – a lot more people would ask questions if you have that opportunity.

‘Renault has struggled clearly this season. I don’t think they will struggle as much next year, but neither do I think they will catch up to Mercedes that fast, and so for us it was a pure performance decision.

‘I think Renault has already been focusing quite a bit on one team, or at least two teams, in terms of rolling road (dyno) testing and so on.

‘It’s the way it is and for sure [the switch] is good for us.’