London, England - The Lotus trucks were heading to Monza on Tuesday as the financially-troubled Formula One team moved to calm fears they might not make it to this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.
Despite the positive news the British-based team still faces an uncertain future with its longer-term hopes seemingly pinned on former owner Renault riding to the rescue.
Speculation about the team's survival has grown since last month's Belgian Grand Prix, where bailiffs moved to impound the cars after Romain Grosjean finished a strong third.
That intervention was a result of legal action taken by former reserve driver Charles Pic for an alleged breach of contract.
Lotus also had a problem paying for its tyres before Friday practice in Hungary, after seeing off a winding-up petition in Britain, and other bills have reportedly gone unpaid.
Formula One commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said he stepped in to ensure staff were paid.
“I thought I should cover the wages of the people there to make sure they were all right and so that Lotus would at least get to Spa and, hopefully, to Italy,” he said.
“But they really need to make progress with Renault now to make sure everything is OK.”
LOTUS ASSESSING ITS OPTIONS
Renault, the team's former owner and which won titles with the Enstone-based outfit in 2005 and 2006, is assessing its Formula One options and whether to quit entirely or become more involved in the sport.
Currently engine supplier to Red Bull and sister team Toro Rosso, the French manufacturer is tipped to retake control of Lotus.
While that would be welcomed by staff at the Enstone factory in central England, with optimistic reports in the media about the progress of talks, Renault has kept tight-lipped about its intentions.
“We would welcome them back with open arms obviously,” Lotus's trackside operations director Alan Permane said after the race in Spa.
“We could have done an awful lot better this season with a little bit more investment and funding. Having said that our owners have kept us going. Through the hard times they've put money in.
“They've kept the team running and kept us coming to the races.”
Reuters