Force India - No Tub

[poppopbangbang]

Uh-Oh Not sounding good for the boys at Silverstone...

http://www.worldcarfans.com/115020288177/force-ind...

[i]Rumours about the health of the Force India team are continuing to worsen.

The Silverstone based squad has not fully explained its absence from the Jerez test this week.

On social media, German driver Nico Hulkenberg posted a photo of himself training in the snow, remarking: "If I can't be at Jerez I'm getting myself into shape at 3000m."

And on Sunday, as his rivals pounded around Jerez, he posted another photo of himself watching the tennis on television.

Ralf Bach, a correspondent for Sport Bild and TZ Munchen who now writes on his own blog f1-insider.com, said he has learned that Force India's Jerez absence is "because it has no monocoque" for the new VJM08 car.

He said Force India has not been delivered the 2015 monocoque by carbon supplier EOM "because bills have not been paid".

Bach claims Force India's overall debts are in the order of 50 million euros, including engine and tyre suppliers Mercedes and Pirelli.

"Making the season opener in Melbourne is now virtually impossible," Bach quoted a team source as saying.[/i]


But does rather explain livery being shown on the 2014 car and their lack of presence in Jerez.

[hornetrider]

Oh dear.

[patmahe]

Such a pity if true. They were great last year. Hope this is exaggerated.

[mw88]

Can't say I'm suprised, but it would be sad to see them go.

Other than Smirnoff/Telmex the majority of their sponsors are related in some way to Vijay Mallya (Kingfisher, Royal Challenge/UB Group). I've wondered how long they can keep going with some of Mallya's other companies having issues!

[Dermot O'Logical]

Interesting. There have been rumours (some substantiated) about problems within Mallya's business empire for a long time. Ted Kravitz said that the non-appearance in Jerez was due to the team trying to broker a deal to run a pay driver in the 2014 car not materialising.

The team had a good first half of 2014, but fell back in the second half, indicating a lack of development. It would be a real shame if the latest rumours are true.

[andyps]

Would they be able to use the same exemption which has been offered to Caterham and Marussia to use the 2014 car this season? If they start at least they will get last years prize money to pay off the debts, although they will no doubt accrue more.

[Some Gump]

The house of cards is going to fall this year. It's a pity - because all this financial chat does nothing but erode the value of the sport as bling-factor for sponsors.

I just hope that once it implodes, something decent comes from the ashes.

[StevieBee]

andyps said:

Would they be able to use the same exemption which has been offered to Caterham and Marussia to use the 2014 car this season? If they start at least they will get last years prize money to pay off the debts, although they will no doubt accrue more.

I'm not sure but I think the prize money is actually in the form of free (or subsidised) travel, rather than cash in the bank - a move to stop the fly by nights gathering a few points and buggering off with the prize money.

[anonymous-user]

Gaz. said:

Seems an odd decision, they aren't going to magically come up with $50m without racing. It's like telling a builder you're confiscating his tools until he finishes your new kitchen.

Not really. They clearly can't make money by racing so aren't going to clear the debt unless they find a new sponsor. It's more like the builder telling the customer he's not getting his new kitchen until he pays for it. Fair enough really.

[n3il123]

Or why would a supplier keep supplying to a company that doesn't pay their bills? Presumably they have sent a statement and phoned the accounts team to remind them that they are a bit behind...

[whatleytom]

Thats such a pity. Only 16 cars on the grid this year!?

[StevieBee]

n3il123 said:

Or why would a supplier keep supplying to a company that doesn't pay their bills? Presumably they have sent a statement and phoned the accounts team to remind them that they are a bit behind...

If every supplier stopped supplying the moment an invoice went over its due date, the world would stop.

There is a limit and clearly, the limit has been reached here.

[Buzz84]

StevieBee said:

n3il123 said:

Or why would a supplier keep supplying to a company that doesn't pay their bills? Presumably they have sent a statement and phoned the accounts team to remind them that they are a bit behind...

If every supplier stopped supplying the moment an invoice went over its due date, the world would stop.

There is a limit and clearly, the limit has been reached here.

Quite a lot of companies will have a 30/60/90 day credit term so they don't pay straight away, so it can take some time before the supplier realises they aren't getting paid and stop supplying

[Vocal Minority]

By cultivating WEC options, has Hulkenburg been wise?

[thechosenfamily]

StevieBee said:

If every supplier stopped supplying the moment an invoice went over its due date, the world would stop.

There is a limit and clearly, the limit has been reached here.

This is what I do for a living so I can talk with some authority.

StevieBee is correct, no company will put another on hold until at least 7 days after the due date, in my experience this can drift out to 30 days but probably not further than that depending on the payment method\agreement.

[m444ttb]

Vocal Minority said:

By cultivating WEC options, has Hulkenburg been wise?

You'd have to say yes wouldn't you? This latest issue aside Id suggest it's still a smart long term career view.

[Some Gump]

IMO WEC is the future and F1 has shafted itself - it built a facade of bling, but when all the news is about bankrupcy not glamour, it'll fade and fade fast. It was obvious 3 years ago that things were going wrong, but the structure and politics have not allowed the change needed for long term. When you consider that Bernie will probably be dead within 5 years, it's natural that the sport's leader isn't taking a 10 year view...

Thing is, WEC is so far behind the game that F1 should be able to recover before WEC gets ahold - but if the FIA and ACO could finally play together, you'd have GTE/GT3 coming together. This is what they need to do to make a step change in GT racing. Just imagine:

Ferrari
Porsche
McLaren
Lamborghini
Bentley
Aston Martin
Audi
Corvette
BMW
Nissan
Mercades
..Fighting out the battle for GT.

Porsche
Audi
Toyota
Nissan
Ferrari
(others)
Fighting out the battle for LMP..

It would kick F1's arse. They could easily make a combined sprint and endurance formula, same cars for both - that's relevant to road car tech, sounds better, costs less and is far more exciting. If only we could get the French to agree with the French,

[carinaman]

Some Gump said:

It would kick F1's arse. They could easily make a combined sprint and endurance formula, same cars for both - that's relevant to road car tech, sounds better, costs less and is far more exciting. If only we could get the French to agree with the French,

Thank you for making me laugh before 8 am.

[phumy]

The 2015 tub turned up at the Force India factory yesterday..

[Norfolkit]

phumy said:

The 2015 tub turned up at the Force India factory yesterday..

Source? I can't find any mention of it anywhere else.

Edit to add.
Although I did find this while I was looking.
http://richlandf1.com/?p=33336

Fernley saying they might struggle to get the new car to the 3rd test (also saying they might take the 2014 car to the second test).

Edited by Norfolkit on Saturday 7th February 21:16