Force India

[this_is_gav]

I don't think that Perez has done himself any favours with regards to future seats over this. Would Mercedes buy them out and run them as a B team maybe? It would be one way to get their young upcoming crivers into seats.

It's something that I'm surprised Mercedes aren't considering (not necessarily buying them out, but certainly supporting a team like Ferrari do Sauber), but there's been no solid rumours of anything like that. If the Stroll family take over there's no team where Mercedes can send their drivers to learn (hence Ocon's loan to Renault).

It makes me question whether Mercedes are genuinely in it for the long term ahead of 2021, but chances are they just don't want to invest so much in another team.

 

[EddScott]

What happened to Stroll Senior buying the remains of FI?

 

[andicole0]

What happened to Stroll Senior buying the remains of FI?

Probably waiting for the price to crash.
Could buy it then merge it with Williams.
Andi.

 

[edGfaCTor]

I don't think that Perez has done himself any favours with regards to future seats over this. Would Mercedes buy them out and run them as a B team maybe? It would be one way to get their young upcoming crivers into seats.

I hope not b teams should be illegal it's anti competition

 

[KiNgPiN83]

I hope not b teams should be illegal it's anti competition

What about RB and TR then??

 

[hominid]

I've been reading stories that say the total amount is north of $100m, and that the team had a wind-up noticed served, which would have closed FI if not paid.

They need to get rid of Vijay Mallya, and hopefully through the administration phase they can get him out the door, as it looks like his been up to his old tricks voodoo accounting.

They should be ok in the short term, to give them enough time to either sell the team or sell off the pieces. It seams like Mr Stroll has an interest, so if they can wade through the financial stuff in due diligence then cool.

FI should not be in this situation, I only hope they can sort it out.

 

[ajf]

Yes, BBC have noted this, with Perez saying he started administration proceedings to avoid the wind up order for the team:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/44994539

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Perez has done them a favour.
Decision is out of VJ’s hands now.
The best decision for the future of the company is now far more likely.

 

[MagicBoy]

Oddly, turns out this Rich Energy company may be a touch dodgy. £1.6m in intangible assets, £800k net assets and £1m in debtors. No income statement on record either.

Yet.... they have £30m for sponsorship of a f1 team?

LOL. I'd assumed they were a utility company, surprised it's yet another energy drink. They missed that boat by over 10 years...

Been a while since we had any really dodgy sponsors in F1. Bring back Moneytron!

 

[edGfaCTor]

What about RB and TR then??

What about them?

If you look at those two teams it is what I am saying TR will never compete with RB because they wouldn't allow it so it is anti competitive

 

[Flibster]

Comment from Sergio

And as expected... Rich Energy have errrm... responded...

Economically illiterate & lies. Winding up order dealt with. Nobody with an IQ higher than their age could believe this rubbish. Save 406 jobs by demanding @ForceIndiaF1 immediately pays you 4m and thus putting team finances under more pressure?! Administration THREATENS jobs!

 

[MagicBoy]

Someone's IQ is dropping in proportion to the amount of their own product they consume. Idiots.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Rich Energy are currently the mouthpiece of VJ..

I have no evidence to back this up, but I think it’s a fair guess

 

[MagicBoy]

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

He is right.. IF he is credible, and IF he has the funds to take the team on, the administrator will move him to the front.
This is why he didn't like the administration as it opened it up to the administrators to make the decision, and negates a lot of the work he has be doing with VJ and the team.
Let's see what happens in the administraton process. IF the funding and backers he claims are there, they will be top of the list.
Whatever happens, we just need to keep the team in F1.

 

[413x]

Would be a shame to see them go.

The race for the B-spec championship is really good

 

[hominid]

From what he said FI has over £200m in debt, £46m to the creditors (Mercedes/Perez et al) and over £150m to the FI shareholders.

This chap sounds plausible, but it's going to be hard to buy the team without the help of the other teams(McLaren/Williams/etc). This is purely financial because if FI goes bankrupt those teams below will automatically go one place in the constructors and that's potentially worth 10's of millions to each team. It's going to need a few favours to sort this out.

Also, if FI does go bankrupt and the team gets bought and renamed then they will not be eligible for championship payments for 2 years - again, worth 10's of millions for them. It's tricky, in this way F1 is very canibalistic.

If I was working for FI I would be sending CV'd out just in case, it's not just down to FI if they survive or not and a lot can get in the way.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

The approximate debt pile comprised the following: Mercedes (£10m for power unit hardware), sponsor BWT (£5.6m), £4.1m to a company linked to driver Sergio Perez, and around £2m to Formtech, a Bavarian composites components supplier to the motorsport industry. Besides, there are sundry creditors, including HMRC, the British revenue service, which started winding up proceedings over unpaid employee contributions.

BWT’s alleged debt is difficult to quantify: Apparently, the sponsorship is in the form of a “loan” paid upfront, reducing pro rate with each passing race. Thus, according to a witness statement presented to the court by BWT’s lawyer, Stevie Loughrey, £5.6m is owing – but logically, Force India could discharge its obligations were it to continue racing.

More here: https://www.racefans.net/2018/08/01...-reveals-about-force-indias-uncertain-future/

 

[Lakeland]

That was an interesting read, thanks for posting!

Just stumbled across this video which gives a fair bit of insight in to rich energy. It seems to paint a much different story about the company's finances.

 

[MikeTheNative]

It was literally posted 4 up from you. The general conses is that the guy is talking a load a crap but you never know. It is odd how a small startup drink company can find £30Mill, he must has very rich friends.