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Lotus happy to wait on title sponsor

Lotus has started the season strongly, with Kimi Raikkonen just three points off the championship lead © Sutton Images

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Lotus owner Gerard Lopez says he is happy to wait for the right deal before signing a title sponsor to the team.

With Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes all having title sponsors, Lotus is currently the largest team without such a deal. While Romain Grosjean has previously voiced his concern that the team might struggle to match the speed of development on its current budget, Lopez says he won't rush in to signing a deal that might "undersell" Lotus.

"At this stage it's a choice. There are a number of title sponsors we can sign up, but anyone you sign up is for three to five years," Lopez told Sporting Life. "The value we have today in the championship and the paddock is one that should be recognised. So we've refused to sign certain things we could have done because we believe we shouldn't undersell ourselves.

"So it's a choice, and whenever you make a choice you have to live with the consequences, and the consequence for us is we (as owner) essentially finance more of the team. But that doesn't mean the budget has come down. On the contrary the budget has actually been increased (for this season)."

Lopez added that having a smaller budget doesn't necessarily mean Lotus can't match the pace of development of its rivals.

"We like the position of the underdog. That's what we are, but at the same time, in terms of development, we've never let anybody down. We maybe spend our money differently, which makes us an interesting team in the championship. We're never going to spend what some others are spending, but that doesn't mean we're never going to compete against them either."

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