His team unable to access its hospitality unit in the paddock at Suzuka, the Frenchman was reduced to holding his usual Thursday press conference outside in the rain.
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Haas has said his dream lineup would be a driver from the Ferrari squad and another with F1 race experience.
“Their hospitality unit is completely empty”.
This is not the first time the team’s build-up to a race has been affected by cash-flow, with Pirelli withholding tyres from Lotus until a matter of minutes before Practice One in Hungary due to unpaid bills.
The burgeoning American outfit has been the subject of speculation in recent weeks over the identity of the drivers for its inaugural season, but next week’s announcement is expected to confirm Romain Grosjean at least. I’m happy with it. You will know soon.
Despite his team’s problems, Grosjean finished third at the Belgian Grand Prix last month.
“Lotus have said to us it was a late payment, but also due to the time difference it was hard to get them through and confirmed with the circuit”. It is just not nice for Enstone and it is a situation which is very tricky.
While the rest of the grid had already unpacked and were well underway setting up their garages and preparing the cars for this weekend’s action at Suzuka, Lotus team members were left waiting until Thursday afternoon for equipment, including engines, to arrive in Japan.
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That action was later settled, as was a winding up petition brought by a supplier, while a problem paying Pirelli for tyres in Hungary was blamed on a delayed bank transaction.
