Force India F1 enters administration

Force India has been placed into administration following a High Court ruling on Friday, with the team’s current Formula 1 driver, Sergio Perez, and engine supplier Mercedes among the creditors pushing for the move.

Following many months of financial uncertainty, Force India was present for a hearing at the High Court in London where it was placed into administration, as confirmed to  following multiple reports on Friday night.

While this will not have any impact on the day-to-day running of the team, it allows officials to progress in the push to find a possible new buyer or secure fresh investment.

Perez called Force India’s financial situation “critical” earlier this week, but is understood to have been among the creditors pushing for Force India to enter administration, with a sum of around £4 million owed to the Mexican driver’s group.

Mercedes is understood to have an outstanding total of more than €10 million relating to its supply of power units in recent years, and was also supportive of the administration application.

The administrators are known to have identified a set of potential buyers for Force India, with the father of current Williams F1 driver Lance Stroll, Lawrence, being mooted as one possible investor. Current Force India development driver Nikita Mazepin’s father has also been linked with a buyout.

Team owner Vijay Mallya, deputy team principal Bob Fernley and chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer all remain in their positions. Fernley was due to appear in Friday’s FIA press conference in Hungary, but was absent due to the hearing at the High Court.

Szafnauer agreed with Perez’s earlier assessment that the team was in a “critical” financial situation, but was confident that fresh investment would be arriving soon.

“We are just in this critical period, which might last a week or two,” Szafnauer said. “We have to keep our heads down, do the best we can here, go enjoy, after the test, enjoy our break and then come back fighting thereafter.

“I think [fresh investment is] imminent. I know there’s discussions going on in the background. I’m not privy to those because it’s a shareholder issue and I’m not a shareholder, otherwise I would know more. But it will be very soon.”