F1: Force India Cash Aid Blocked by Rivals

It is no secret that the Force India F1 team has been struggling on the financial front. Recently, chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer revealed that they requested Liberty Media for a loan against future prize money. However, the move was blocked by rival teams.

“It’s no secret we asked for a bit of money up front so that gets us through the winter,” Szafnauer said.

“This year that money wasn’t forthcoming because I think some of the teams said ‘You can’t do that’, and blocked it.

“[It] put a bit of a financial strain on us over the winter,” he admitted. “If you have 10 million extra in November or December, then you can build the car parts. If you don’t, you can’t.

“It makes it more difficult. And I would imagine that’s one of the reasons why some of the other teams said no.”

Having suffered early in the season, Szafnauer believes that the team can only get stronger moving forward.

“The nice thing is that the 10 million advance we used to always get, that used to come off at one million every month,” he pointed out. “That’s not happening now, so we’re better off.”

Th team has already downplayed claims that British sports drinks company Rich Energy had been in talks to buy into the F1 team.

“I’m sure there was an approach, because we asked Vijay [Mallya, team principal]. But he keeps playing down the level that it’s at.”

Meanwhile, another suitor is US race team Andretti Autosport. Even the team’s current title sponsors, Austrian water company BWT.

“I think they [BWT] have had discussions with Vijay too, but I don’t think that’s gone anywhere,” Szafnauer said.

“From day to day, Vijay didn’t do anything anyway. That’s not a derogatory thing, it’s a factual thing,” he said. “Stepping down as a director I see as having zero impact on how we run the team.”

Mallya is currently contesting a series of legal actions in India, and has said that he and the other major shareholders in the team are open to talks from prospective buyers.

“If somebody comes along with a serious offer, and puts cash on the table, we will jointly consider it,” he said earlier this year.