Force India’s future has finally been resolved after the FIA agreed to allow the team to re-enter the Formula 1 world championship under a new entry.
The team’s immediate future was unclear following revelations the Lawrence Stroll-led consortium which was initially believed to have purchased the team had in fact only bought the team’s assets.
It created the unusual situation where the original team, Force India Formula One Team Limited, held the rights to compete in the championship and a new company, Racing Point, in possession of all the Formula 1 team’s assets.
The FIA has since confirmed that it has accepted a new entry from Racing Point Force India, due to the fact the Force India Formula One Team Limited was in breach of Article 8.2 of the sporting regulations, which states that teams should participate in every event.
As the team was not able to do that, but the required guarantees could be met by Racing Point Force India, the FIA has accepted the mid-season entry of the ‘new’ team.
However the new entry comes with a catch, as since it is regarded as a new team into the championship it will not have ‘Force India’s’ points constructors’ championship.
A quirk of the process though means that, as the car has been homologated as a ‘Force India’, the new team must include that in its name in order to satisfy the regulations surrounding the team being a constructor, and therefore be eligible for constructors’ points.
As a result, the ‘all-new’ Racing Point Force India squad enters the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend without a point to its name, which neatly sidesteps problems relating to prize money eligibility, though the new team will not be eligible for the money the previous entry would have been entitled to.