Speaking at the Autosport International Show, Force India’s chief operating officer, Otmar Szafnauer has confirmed that Force India will not be re-branded as Aston Martin Racing for the 2016 season, although talks with the British company continue.
Speaking at the Autosport International Show, Force India’s chief operating officer, Otmar Szafnauer has confirmed that Force India will not be re-branded as Aston Martin Racing for the 2016 season, although talks with the British company continue. It could happen in 2017.
“It was flattering to have the serious discussions with Aston Martin and it’s a big decision for them to enter the sport and also to partner with Force India,” he said. “The talks are still ongoing. I can’t foresee it for 2016, but you don’t know what the future holds. The door isn’t shut on that but for 2016 we’ll remain Force India.”
He believes that the team will be able to be competitive from the very first race. “If all goes well, we should start where we left off in 2015. We finished the season in a strong position and our aim over the winter is to maintain our competitiveness at that level,” he said. “The regulations haven’t changed drastically, a little bit here and there, so we’re maintaining the same development path that we’ve been on and hopefully we’ve done a bit better job with the budgets over the winter so there won’t be a B-spec in the middle of the year and we can come out fighting at the first race. We’ve had a few podiums and if we can do that multiple times then the points will come too and we’ll have a good chance of staying fifth or even looking at fourth.”
During the 2015 season, Force India finished a brilliant 5th in the Constructor’s Championship. with 136 points. This is their best finish so far. They finished sixth on three previous occasions. The team was also voted the best team of the year by fans from the around the world. The team is owned by Vijay Mallya, who is also the team principal. The drivers are Nico Hulkenberg from Germany and Sergio Perez from Mexico.
Source – Sky Sports