Lotus bought into by Infinity Racing

Lotus' new team co-owner has lurched into formula one with bravado, claiming the Enstone based team will be "number 1 in twelve months".

Former 100 per cent team owner Genii Capital announced on Tuesday that Infinity Racing, comprising an American hedge fund, an Abu Dhabi group and an oil-rich royal family, has bought 65pc of the team whose lead driver is Kimi Raikkonen.

Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary reported on Wednesday that the royal family is "believed to be Brunei", whose Sultan is among the richest people on earth.

"It is clear the new shareholders are not going to sit idly in the background," said Cary.

Infinity's chairman is Mansoor Ijaz, a New York-based American of Pakistani ancestry who is an investment banker and media commentator.

In a bullish first interview with Sportspro magazine, he insisted: "I say it simply, flatly, completely -- we'll be number 1 in 12 months."

He was more cautious when it came to the reports about the Brunei link.

"I will not comment on the royal family, whether it's Brunei or not -- I'm not going to comment on that," said Ijaz.

But he did say Infinity is entering F1 "to bring our technological capabilities", while Tuesday's press release referred to the KERS technology in the sport.

"I won't go too much into that today because I want to keep some elements of surprise in terms of what we're going to do to win the championship, but we have enormous technological capabilities that we can bring and we're going to make Lotus the number one team for sponsorship within the next year," added Ijaz.

He said his younger brother Mujeeb will be "an important part of the story".

"I would say we will be integrally involved in the technology development side, as the engines change next year, as technology comes to the front," said Ijaz.

Source:Motorsport

Wonder what they'll do if Lotus aren't the 2014 constructor's champions, or Kimi isn't the drivers' champion next season?

That's what I always hate about these mega-rich billionaires or consortiums. Half the time I swear they don't have a clue exactly what it is they're buying into, whether it be football clubs, motorsport teams or whatever.

They think they'll just be able to throw money at the project and have it succeed.

And I bet for most of the year they won't even care whats going on with the team until the silverware is handed out at the end of the season.

dyrewolfe wrote:Wonder what they'll do if Lotus aren't the 2014 constructor's champions, or Kimi isn't the drivers' champion next season?

That's what I always hate about these mega-rich billionaires or consortiums. Half the time I swear they don't have a clue exactly what it is they're buying into, whether it be football clubs, motorsport teams or whatever.

They think they'll just be able to throw money at the project and have it succeed.

And I bet for most of the year they won't even care whats going on with the team until the silverware is handed out at the end of the season.

Spot on.  

And the thing is if they don't get the success they will pull out of the sport as quick as they arrived because pure and simply the team is no more than an expensive toy to them and once they get bored they will be off. In short not motor racing fans at heart and so they won't have the dedication.