Force India has been acquired by a new company known as Racing Point. Otmar Szafnauer has been appointed team principal and chief executive officer following the departure of deputy team principal Robert Fernley.
Lawrence Stroll, who led the consortium which took over the team, described the new project as an “exciting challenge.”“On Monday I stood in front of the workforce at Silverstone and Brackley and applauded the achievements of this team in recent years,” he said. “The strength of any company is the people that make it up and it’s a huge privilege to begin this exciting new journey with such a talented group of men and women.
“I’ve been fortunate to establish and grow a number of successful businesses, but the opportunity to take this team forward to the next level is perhaps the most exciting challenge yet.
“Together with my fellow shareholders, we will invest in new resources and bring fresh energy to empower the workforce to continue racing at the very highest level. We are all passionate about motor racing; we recognise the racers’ spirit in Force India, and we are extremely motivated to make this team even more special in the years ahead.”
The new ownership was finalised last Thursday. The team will compete as Racing Point Force India F1 team “for the rest of the 2018 season”, according to a statement, and continue to run in pink, white and blue colours.
Szafnauer thanked the team’s staff for their support. “Now that we are under new ownership and the future of the team is secure, we can focus on doing what we do best – going racing.
“We have a great management team in place and this stability will be extremely valuable as we begin the new era. I would like to thank Bob Fernley for his contribution to the success of this team over the last ten years and recognise the support of the previous shareholders for making Force India what it is today.”
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GeeMac (@geemac)
23rd August 2018, 19:00
If you are on Force India’s mailing list you will have received an email confirming this a few minutes ago…
GeeMac (@geemac)
23rd August 2018, 19:05
Also, it is interesting that Companies House records for Racing Point UK Limited and Racing Point UK Holdings Limited show that Lawrence Stroll is “Lawrence Philip Strulovitch”. I thought the family name changed happened a generation prior to papa Stroll?
GeeMac (@geemac)
23rd August 2018, 19:06
Lawrence Sheldon Strulovitch…argh.
Hugh (@hugh11)
23rd August 2018, 19:03
Hopefully there being no mention of Lance will mean that he’ll stay at Williams for at least the rest of the season
Joao (@johnmilk)
23rd August 2018, 19:27
@hugh11 I’ve heard that Stroll will be with them from Monza, with Kubica taking his place. Ocon will go to McLaren, and Vandoorne is out.
Not absolutely reliable info, and don’t know if Ocon will seat out the rest of the season
Norris might go to STR. Don’t know if that could be an option to Vandoorne as well
Hugh (@hugh11)
23rd August 2018, 20:08
A friend said he’d heard the same thing too. I can’t see it happening though, personally, especially with Ocon, unless McLaren tie him down, which I can’t see Mercedes letting happen. It’s just all too complicated for me. I reckon they’ll wait until the end of the year.
Joao (@johnmilk)
23rd August 2018, 22:00
@hugh11 these came from Autosport Portugal. Hence the not completely reliable
TFLB (@tflb)
23rd August 2018, 20:29
@johnmilk I feel Vandoorne is being massively underrated in all of this – he was one of the most dominant GP2 champions ever, and was very close to Alonso in the second half of last year. Granted, it hasn’t been the same this year, but Mclaren seem to be having trouble fielding two equal cars. Certainly I’d rate him at least as good as Ocon and it would be a shame to see him out of F1 having never had much of a chance to prove himself.
Neil (@neilosjames)
23rd August 2018, 21:02
^ Agree with this. I want to see him get a shot as an equal against someone (Sainz will do) before he gets booted out.
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
23rd August 2018, 23:29
@tflb agree as well. Let’s look at Magnussen, he was okay at McLaren and was dropped before fully developing… He is having a great season this year showing what a few years experience can do.
Vandoorne has been better than Magnussen for his beginning at McLaren and been showing great potential in gp2 and super formula. Next year should be great opportunity to show what he can do free of Alonso’s shadow.
bosyber (@bosyber)
23rd August 2018, 19:07
Well, I do think that the new owners are smart businessman with the way they managed to arrange how the team will now operate, and can already gather points so they’ll not have to wait for that FOM money so long, without having to depend on a forced vote from the other teams about keeping those Force India points (which they knew Williams at least felt they needed to block). I hope from here on the team can move forward.
Still some trepidation about possible driver moves, but sigh, I am very glad the organisation is still there, and most jobs will be maintained, this is a great team, and they deserve their place on the grid. Good luck Racing Force :)
UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
23rd August 2018, 19:20
Well, the (stupid) rules of how many racing drivers are allowed for a team per annum don’t apply here, as they are a new legal entity and can use anyone they want. The two most available and experienced being Perez and Ocon, most likely are going to keep racing until the end of the season.
I’d like to see a revolving door on at least one of the cars, because, why not
OIliver
23rd August 2018, 19:36
I’d suggest the new management go for younger racing talents to add some fresh energy to the team.
Leclerc, Sirotkin and Stroll easily come to mind. But if all three, only Stroll has been on the podium which must put him in prime slot for one of the seats.
TFLB (@tflb)
23rd August 2018, 20:26
He’s also, you know, the new owner’s son so that might influence the decision somewhat…
OOliver
23rd August 2018, 19:41
I’d suggest the new management go for younger racing talents to add some fresh energy to the team.
Leclerc, Sirotkin and Stroll easily come to mind. But if all three, only Stroll has been on the podium which must put him in prime slot for one of the seats.
Cristiano
23rd August 2018, 19:50
So Racing Points is Racing for points this weekend then :)
Sorry, i’ll leave now :p
Shimks (@shimks)
24th August 2018, 6:12
Seriously, though, what an aweful name!