Wolff: Lotus F1 situation is not normal

Kimi Räikkönen agitated the paddock of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by publicly expressing his dissatisfaction with Lotus F1 Team which has still not paid him his salary. The situation escalated following the argument between the 2007 world champion and track operations director Alan Permane at the Indian GP. The Finn did not hesitate to threaten his team with being absent from the last two races of the season in Austin and Interlagos. If the Quantum Motorsports investment fund assured that he was on the verge of formalizing his arrival in the capital of the team, the official announcement is still awaited.

Toto wolff made it known that he found this type of situation was not acceptable in relation to the standards expected at F1 level. “Of course it is not a good sign that pilots, employees or suppliers are not paid”, declared the executive president of Mercedes AMG F1 to journalist Adam Cooper. “That's not what we want to see. You have to know how to manage my affairs, I have never experienced such a situation in my entire life. I wonder why people don't pay their staff. Is this true or not? I don't know, but it's incomprehensible to me if that's the case. It's not pleasant to hear that a team at the forefront is not able to pay its debts... Without wanting to be too harsh, not knowing how the team works, we have to operate with the available budgets , like any company. »

Don't miss the analysis of the Lotus F1 Team situation in issue 1934 of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.