The Force India F1 team isn’t affected by its shareholders current financial troubles, deputy team principal Bob Fernley insists.
News that co-owner Vijay Mallya’s airline shares have plunged following their creditors decision to recall loans of up to £1 billion, and more recently the freezing of shareholder Subrata Roy’s assets due to non-compliance with the Supreme Court’s order that Sahara must repay £2 billion plus interest back to investors, has once again put the Formula One team under the spotlight.
Fernley though is adamant that the team is a separate entity, free from the financial troubles its owners are currently experiencing.
“There is a disconnect between what happens in Vijay’s business and what Vijay is doing on the F1 team,” he told James Allen on F1.
“So it doesn’t matter what happens there. Whether Kingfisher or United Spirits is doing well or not doesn’t affect the team, and it’s very difficult for us to get that message across, although we have been trying for several years.”
He acknowledged the fact that the team is often at the centre of speculated takover talks: “We get a story every three or four months where we are about to go bankrupt, or someone is selling us or whatever, and we’ve had that for five years, so we are used to it.
“Five times a year we are up for sale. But we are still there and the strength of Force India, which so many people seem to have missed, is our shareholders.”
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