Rescued Force India targets immediate updates

Force India's new ownership will allow it to press on with crucial upgrades that could be ready in time for the first race after Formula 1's summer break. A consortium led by Lawrence Stroll, father of current Williams driver Lance, has agreed a deal with the team's administrators to bring it back into solvency and secure its future. The F1 season resumes with the Belgian Grand Prix on August 26 and the Italian Grand Prix follows a week later.
Force India chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer told Autosport he was hopeful the team would have its upgrades by Spa, but admitted it may need to wait a little longer.

"I hope that's the case," he said. "If not, definitely by Monza.

"There are some components that have been put on hold and I don't know where the suppliers will get to because they don't work over the break.

"So, we're only going to have a couple of days before Spa. But if not before then, before Monza."

The team will receive some funding immediately with more to come in the next two to three weeks, once its emergence from administration is complete, which will also allow it to resume work on its 2019 challenger. It still has an outside shot of fourth in this year's constructors' championship. Force India has finished fourth the previous two seasons, and despite its financial difficulties holding back development - see below - it is sixth in this year's contest, just seven points behind Haas and 23 behind Renault.

"We definitely need the funding otherwise this doesn't work," said Szafnauer.

"We have to start paying our suppliers and purchase some needed materials for both upgrades for this year and for next year's car.

"We're in the midst of building next year's car and without funding we wouldn't have been able to do that.

"It's much needed and couldn't have come at a better time."

Force India's season so far

By Edd Straw

Force India spent the early races getting on top of a diffuser stall problem, among other aero weaknesses, caused by poor windtunnel/CFD-to-track correlation, but did eventually troubleshoot the VJM11 into a better-balanced car - albeit one still lacking in outright downforce.

The car has been at its strongest at Baku, Monaco and Montreal - all tracks where high-speed aero that is consistent in longer corners is not so important - while since a dismal showing in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix it has been at its weakest at heavily downforce-dependent Barcelona and Hungaroring.

Force India's operational strength has allowed it to claim 11 points finishes, with Sergio Perez taking its best result of the season with third in Azerbaijan, to put it sixth in the championship and only 23 points behind fourth-placed Renault.

With upgrades worth over half-a-second believed to have been designed but not yet manufactured, a cash injection could lead to the team making rapid progress and conceivably emerging as a consistent threat at the front of the congested midfield.

Autosport.com 
 

Stroll-backed consortium saves Force India F1 team

Force India has been in administration since the Friday before the Hungarian Grand Prix in a bid to protect it against the threat of a winding-up order over mounting debts.
It was confirmed on Tuesday evening that a consortium, led by Stroll, had been assembled with the assistance of Force India's chief operations officer Otmar Szafnauer and the team's senior management.

A deal has been agreed with the joint administrators, appointed by FRP Advisory, to return the team to solvency.

Stroll's fellow investors are Canadian entrepreneur Andre Desmarais, Jonathan Dudman of Monaco Sports and Management, fashion business leader John Idol, telecommunications investor John McCaw Jr, financial expert Michael de Picciotto, and Stroll's business partner Silas Chou.

Force India's creditors will be paid in full, all 405 jobs at the team have been saved and ongoing funding has been guaranteed.The new set-up, which signed an exclusivity agreement on Tuesday, takes over ownership of the team from Vijay Mallya and Orange India Holdings Sarl. "This outcome secures the future of the Force India team in Formula 1 and will allow our team of racers to compete to our full potential," said Szafnauer.
"I am delighted that we have the support of a consortium of investors who believe in us as a team and who see the considerable business potential that Force India has within F1 now and in the future.

"At Force India, our expertise and commitment has meant that we have always punched above our weight and this new investment ensures that we have a bright future ahead of us.
"I also would like to thank Vijay, the Sahara Group and the Mol family for all of their support and taking the team as far as their circumstances would allow." Stroll had been linked with investing in Force India for some time and its need for a new owner presented an opportunity to become more directly involved. He has been backing Williams through support for his son Lance, who has driven for the British team since making his F1 debut last season.
 
Several other parties had expressed interest, including two US consortiums and a British firm. "It is rare that a company can be rescued and returned to a position of solvency," said joint administrator Geoff Rowley. "The quality of the various interested parties has been impressive and required careful consideration as the administration has progressed.
"Having followed a robust process, in the end we were left with a highly-credible offer to save the company and restore solvency. "Funding to support the team will be made available from today, and significantly more will be available once the company emerges from administration which we expect within the next two to three weeks."

Now that a bid has been accepted the administrator will look to confirm finer details, including finalising the agreement to buy the team and agree elements like the contract to use Mercedes engines transferring to the new company. The team has owed money to several creditors, notably Mercedes and driver Sergio Perez, who used the money he was owed to trigger the action that led to it being put into administration at the request of senior members of the team.

It needs the change of ownership to be completed so it can commission suppliers to produce upgraded parts, which will be crucial in Force India's championship battle.
The team is currently sixth in the constructors' contest, seven points behind Haas and 23 behind fourth-placed Renault.

Autosport.com 
 

Hungarian GP - Race, Force India Quotes

Starting so far back, it was always going to prove to be a tough race for the team in pink, and so it proved. They tried alternate strategies, Perez starting on ultrasofts and Ocon the softs, but to no avail with both coming home well outside the points after battling each other for much of the race. Still, they kept those battles clean which was something of a bonus all things considered.

Sergio Perez, 14th
“It hasn’t been an ideal day for us, but we knew it was going to be a tough Sunday all along. We started from the back and chose to go with an aggressive strategy, but in the end we just didn’t have the pace to make it work. I had a good start but lost some places after touching with Leclerc and after that it was always going to be difficult to recover on a circuit where overtaking is very difficult. I am glad we have the summer break now. The last few months have been tough mentally but I’m still here and I’m in the top ten of the drivers’ championship. We will come back stronger after the holidays – all the off-track issues will have been settled down and we can come to Spa with the right approach and a stable environment around us.”

Esteban Ocon, 13th
“A difficult race for us and we knew it was going to be a big challenge to score points today. The start of the race was strong and we made up a few positions, but we didn’t have enough pace to recover from the back of the grid and fight for points. I enjoyed some good battles with the Renaults, but the problems in qualifying yesterday really determined our result today. We have a few weeks off now and there is still a long way to go in the second half of the season. Everybody deserves a rest so that we can come back stronger in Spa.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer
“Today’s result was largely compromised by the issues we encountered in qualifying yesterday. Starting from the back, both drivers had eventful races, with battles keeping them busy from start to finish. We tried two different strategies, with Esteban starting on soft tyres and Sergio on ultrasofts, but in the end this made little difference and they finished within ten seconds of each other. The summer break gives us a chance to regroup, deal with the issues that are taking place away from the track and come back for the second part of the season in a much stronger position. We are confident in the work we are doing back at the factory and we are still in the thick of the action when it comes to the midfield battle, so we can look forward to recharging the batteries once this week’s test is over.”

Formula1.com 

 

Hungarian GP - Qualifying quotes, Force India

Not a good day at the office. Perez and Ocon both lacked pace in FP3 and looked likely shock fallers come Q1, and so it proved. Ocon suffered brake problems which ruined his chances, whilst Perez was unlucky with the timings of his flying laps. On a track that is difficult to overtake on, it could be a long race for the team in pink.
 
Sergio Perez, 19th, 1:19.200
“A disappointing session. We were expecting more rain towards the end of Q1 so we went out early to set our times and took the best out of the tyres. This really hurt us because the track was improving massively towards the end of Q1 and we didn’t complete our best lap when the track was at its best. Sometimes this happens when the weather is changing quickly, but we definitely had much more potential today. For tomorrow I think it’s a big challenge to recover if we have a normal race, but you never know what can happen and we never give up.”

Esteban Ocon, 18th, 1:19.142
“It’s disappointing to be out in Q1, but we had an issue with the brakes that held us back. I pitted for slicks when the track was improving and my brake pedal went long. We tried to optimise the situation as much as we could, cooling down the brakes, but that meant I couldn’t drive the car at 100%. We definitely had much more than this in the tank. The weather out there was very tricky and we could have taken advantage of the conditions because normally we are really strong in the wet. Given all that happened, though, I am happy not to be last on the grid. We can come back tomorrow and we will push hard to make it back into the points.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer
“A very tricky qualifying session, which didn’t really go to plan. A brake problem held back Esteban and seriously compromised his qualifying session, especially towards the end when the track was improving. It wasn’t easy to call the weather conditions in Q1 and the heavy rain that was forecast didn’t arrive as early as we expected. Ultimately Checo didn’t set his times when the track was at its best and that’s why he dropped out in Q1 as well. It’s one we will need to learn from and hope we can recover tomorrow to come away with some points.”

Formula1.com 
 

Perez brought action against Force India ‘to save team’

Force India went into administration on Friday following action brought by driver Sergio Perez. It’s a highly unusual move, but one the Mexican says was motivated by his desire to “save the team and protect the 400 people” who work there.

FRP Advisory LLP, who were appointed the joint Administrators of Force India, said they are speaking to key stakeholders on an “urgent basis” to secure “the best outcome for creditors”.

Perez, who has driven for the Silverstone-based squad since 2014, is one of those creditors and says he was asked by people within Force India to ‘save the team’.

“Monies due are from last year,” Perez said. “The thing is, there was a winding up petition from another customer, which would have closed down the team completely.

“Therefore I was asked to save the team, to pull the trigger and put the team into administration.

“It was nothing to do with my outstanding amounts. The only reason I have done it was to save the team and for the better future for the team.”

The team continue to operate normally in Hungary, with Perez set to start Sunday’s race from 19^th on the grid.

“I should not really like to be involved in this, because at the end of the day, I’m just a driver, and I’m just here to drive," he added.

“In the end, I ended up in a very difficult situation – I ended up in the middle.

“I tried to focus but then it got too much. I was asked by a couple of members of the team to go ahead and save the team and protect the 400 people who were working there.

“We got to a point where action had to be taken, to protect the 400 people who work in the team. It was hard because emotionally and mentally, I haven’t been able to focus on my driving, on being a racing driver.

“But the picture is much bigger than it looks at the moment. We might go into a painful period but the outcome will be really good for all the team.”

Perez said it was a particularly difficult decision given his good relationship with Team Principal Vijay Mallya, whom he has yet to speak to following the recent developments.
“Personally, I love Vijay, my heart is broken because I know this is not ideal in the short term for him,” he said. “But the big picture is really different.

“I have gone through a very difficult moment emotionally more than mentally. For me, it’s been hard the position I’ve been put in. I have to say, I’m not going through a good time at the moment.

“I hope that whatever happens, Vijay is happy with that and gets a good benefit. Secondly, I look to hopefully have a team that is more stable and can move on to the next level and can be a racing team.

“We were not a racing team any more since the beginning of this. I will be happy if we can get all in the whole group better, and hopefully be happy afterwards.”

Formula1.com 
 

Force India enter administration

Force India have entered administration, but will continue to operate normally and compete in this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

In a statement to Formula1.com, Force India said “specialist business advisory firm FRP Advisory LLP were appointed Joint Administrators of Force India Formula One Team Limited” on Friday.

Joint Administrator Geoff Rowley said: “We shall be engaging with key stakeholders on an urgent basis to secure the best outcome for creditors.
“In the meantime, the team will continue to operate as normal, including racing in Hungary this weekend. Our aim is for business as usual whilst we assess options to secure the future of the team.”

Speaking about Force India's financial position before the news broke, the team's Chief Operating Officer Otmar Szafnauer said in Friday's FIA press conference in Hungary: "The more money you have in this game, usually the better you do. But hopefully that will be solved soon and we’ll get back to operating in the normal manner that we are used to.

"We are just in this critical period, which might last a week or two, we have to keep our heads down, do the best we can here, go enjoy, after the test, enjoy our break and then come back fighting thereafter."

Force India are currently fifth in the constructors' championship on 59 points, 21 adrift of Renault. 

Formula1.com

Hungarian GP - Pracrice quotes , Force India

Ocon and Perez ran longer stints in FP1 and wound up towards the back of the timing sheet, but had cleaner qualifying simulation runs in second practice and flirted with the top 10. In a congested midfield, they may need perfect laps from their drivers to make Q3 tomorrow, but both men were quietly optimistic of their chances...
 
Sergio Perez - FP1: 1:20.159, P17; FP2: 1:18.850, P11
“It wasn’t the easiest session for me, but the most important job was collecting the tyre information, which we managed to achieve. Car balance and confidence are really important here, and we have room to improve before qualifying. I’m not worried if it becomes hotter tomorrow or Sunday because we’ve done our homework today.”

Esteban Ocon - FP1: 1:20.065, P15; FP2: 1:18.761, P10
“It’s been a decent day. There is still a lot of work to do before qualifying, but by the end of second practice we were getting close to a good car balance. I always enjoy driving here: the circuit is one of the highlights of the year and every lap makes me smile. It feels really special in a Formula One car and when the car is working underneath you it’s really good fun.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer
“A hot day of work with the middle of the pack closely matched once again. The drivers made good progress bringing the car balance more to their liking during the day and we’re well prepared for the weekend now. Given the high track temperatures this week, one of the most important jobs was collecting relevant tyre data because there is the potential for even hotter conditions on Sunday. We’ve done long runs on all three tyre compounds so that’s very helpful for our decision-making and race planning. Our attention tonight will be on trying to find more one-lap performance because qualifying well is especially important for securing a good result on Sunday.”

Formula1.com