Team Lotus aim to boost performance by installing Mercedes engines in 2015

British Formula One team Lotus would reportedly switch from Renault to Mercedes engines in 2015.

Lotus has ended its long-term relationship with Renault to switch to Formula One's best engine in an attempt to improve their competitiveness. They finished fourth in the constructors' championship in 2013, but have slipped to eighth in 2014.

Lotus' chief executive officer Matthew Carter said that the company saw the deal as one step towards their aim of winning races again, the BBC reported.The Oxfordshire-based team replaces McLaren, who start a new partnership with Honda in 2015, as one of three Mercedes customer teams.

The deal, described as long-term, had been in the offing for some months, but was delayed due to problems with Renault, the report added.