Formula Money publishers Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid have produced a well-documented report that reveals that the Renault F1 Team has borrowed money to keep racing in the World Championship.
Formula Money is an annual British publication, which contains all the figures that matter about the business of Formula 1.
The article, published by the Evening Standard, states that the Renault F1 Team taken out a loan from one of the biggest banks in Eastern Europe, Vilnius Lithuania's AB Snoras, to help it stay on track after losing more than $80 million in sponsorship over the past twelve months.
The cause is the infamous “Crashgate” that happened during the 2008 Grand prix of Singapore when team boss Flavio Briatore ordered his driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash his Renault to help his teammate, Fernando Alonso to win the race.
The scandal was big enough to trigger the immediate departure of sponsors including Spanish insurance company Mutua Madrilena, Pepe Jeans and Dutch bank ING, which alone was believed to be paying $63m annually.
This led to Renault selling a 75% stake in the team in December last year to a group led by Luxembourg-based businessman Gerard Lopez of Mangrove/Genii Capital who was one of the early investors in Skype.
Despite becoming a minority shareholder, the French car manufacturer still provides considerable support to the team.
According to Formula Money, Renault spends $60m supplying its cars with 2.4-litre V8 engines.
"We are in line with our plans. But it (F1) costs more than we expected. Formula 1 costs much more than we thought," Lopez recently admitted during an interview with Autosprint.
Formula Money indicates that it is not known when the loan has to be repaid by but it is clear that if the team fails to repay, Snoras could call in its security and take control of the Formula 1 team.
Formula Money is an annual British publication, which contains all the figures that matter about the business of Formula 1.
The article, published by the Evening Standard, states that the Renault F1 Team taken out a loan from one of the biggest banks in Eastern Europe, Vilnius Lithuania's AB Snoras, to help it stay on track after losing more than $80 million in sponsorship over the past twelve months.
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| The logo of Snoras Bank has appeared on the sidepods of this year's Renault R30. (Photo: Renault) |
The cause is the infamous “Crashgate” that happened during the 2008 Grand prix of Singapore when team boss Flavio Briatore ordered his driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash his Renault to help his teammate, Fernando Alonso to win the race.
The scandal was big enough to trigger the immediate departure of sponsors including Spanish insurance company Mutua Madrilena, Pepe Jeans and Dutch bank ING, which alone was believed to be paying $63m annually.
This led to Renault selling a 75% stake in the team in December last year to a group led by Luxembourg-based businessman Gerard Lopez of Mangrove/Genii Capital who was one of the early investors in Skype.
Despite becoming a minority shareholder, the French car manufacturer still provides considerable support to the team.
According to Formula Money, Renault spends $60m supplying its cars with 2.4-litre V8 engines.
"We are in line with our plans. But it (F1) costs more than we expected. Formula 1 costs much more than we thought," Lopez recently admitted during an interview with Autosprint.
Formula Money indicates that it is not known when the loan has to be repaid by but it is clear that if the team fails to repay, Snoras could call in its security and take control of the Formula 1 team.