Lotus CEO Louis steps down

The Lotus F1 team has undergone a management reshuffle, with its CEO Patrick Louis stepping aside from his day-to-day role with the team.

Louis was brought into Lotus at the start of 2010 when current owners Genii Capital bought the team from French car manufacturer Renault. He was originally COO but moved up to the CEO role in 2012.

The Frenchman worked alongside team principal Eric Boullier to help get Lotus back to winning ways and tried to secure its financial future amid recent difficulties. Louis has now elected to step down as CEO to take up a position with the Genii Automotive brand. He will retain a position on the Lotus team board, however.

Stepping into the CEO role is Matthew Carter. He is understood to be an ally of minority shareholder Andrew Ruhan, the property investor who got involved with Lotus at the start of last year.

Lotus had hoped to secure a major deal with investors Quantum Motorsports at the end of 2013, but the deal was not completed. With that deal failing to come off, Lotus signed Pastor Maldonado and his PDVSA backers for 2014, rather than opt for Nico Hulkenberg, who had been in advanced talks with the squad.