Szafnauer: Huge relief to know there’s a future for Force India

Speaking to MN in the wake of the rescue deal Force India’s chief operations officer Otmar Szafnauer revealed, “Once we went into administration, there were a couple that have been there and didn’t come out. So, there is a lot of trepidation amongst all the team members, and a lot of anxiety, because we didn’t know where it was going to go.

“It’s a huge relief to know there’s a future for the team. We’ll be able to continue as a normal Formula 1 team. It’s early days. I would hope they would keep the senior management on."

“This just happened, I haven’t sat down with the new owners to say: what do you want to do?," added Szafnauer who has run the Silverstone based outfit alongside deputy team principal Bob Fernley and team patriarch Vijay Mallya.

Billionaire Stroll senior has spent a small fortune ensuring his son Lance Stroll made it on to the Formula 1 grid, starting with an estimated $40-million just to get his son into the top flight last year with Williams.

But this year the once mighty Grove team has sunk to its lowest point with a woefully uncompetitive car that has rendered his son to the back of the grid.

Young Stroll will be driving for the team next year, but the deal is still very fresh and plans for the future - including the identity of the other driver - are yet to be revealed.

Szafnauer added, "In the near future, we’ll have all those conversations, but that’s looking forwards, not looking backwards."