FORMULA ONE - F1: Boss Rules Out Villeneuve For Lotus Seat

Formula 1

F1: Boss Rules Out Villeneuve For Lotus Seat

Lotus team boss Tony Fernandes has played down reports Jacques Villeneuve is a candidate for a race seat in 2010...

SPEED Staff / GMM | Posted December 10, 2009 GMM Newswire

After saying in September that his position as team boss at Lotus was only temporary, Tony Fernandes said this week he will remain as team principal. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Lotus team boss Tony Fernandes, who said this week he will remain boss at Lotus, has played down reports Jacques Villeneuve is a candidate for a race seat in 2010.

38-year-old Villeneuve, F1's 1997 world champion who has been out of the sport for more than three seasons, has been linked with a return for next year and recently visited Lotus' UK headquarters.

But British reports including those in The Sun and the BBC insist that Fernandes, who is also in charge of the Malaysian airline and Williams sponsor AirAsia, ruled out Villeneuve while at the Motor Sport Business Forum in Monaco on Wednesday.

Fernandes was also quoted as saying Lotus' full lineup for 2010 should be announced next week, and that the drivers will be paid rather than selected because of their financial dowries.

"We know we aren't going to be competing (at the front) in year one, but it takes time and we'll have a good basis for moving forward," he said.

Fernandes also said he will remain boss of the new team.

He had said in September that his appointment as team principal was not permanent.

"There was a reason for doing (saying) it at that time, because I think (AirAsia) shareholders were kind of spooked," millionaire Fernandes, 45, said in a Reuters report from Wednesday's Motor Sport Business Forum in Monaco.

"Now they are beginning to see that this is no different from any other business that I own."

He explained that while he doesn't want to run the F1 team forever, "this is not the right time to go".

Fernandes also joked that his target for 2010 is to finish ahead of the team backed by his airline competitor Virgin.

"I said that number one we have to be ahead of (Sir Richard) Branson, otherwise I will retire and kill myself," he said.

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SPEED Staff / GMM

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