Force India has become Sahara Force India with the sale, denied yesterday by Vijay Mallya, of 42.5 percent of the shares in the team. Sahara India Parivar will invest $100 million in the team. From what I am hearing Mallya is selling eight percent of his 50 and the Mol Family is offloading 34 percent. This means that Mallya will have 42.5 percent, Sahara 42.5 percent and the Molls will retain the rest. So who now owns the team? And what plans are there over the next three years for any change of ownership?
My feeling is that Sahara will get control in a while but Mallya wants to edge out quietly. He has enjoyed his time in the spotlight and has spent a lot of money to up his profile. He cannot afford to spend more and so is handing the team over to people who can, reducing his losses as much as he can.
Mallya is just like so many “Captains of Industry ” why should he bother to tell little people like us the truth.
I can’t say I will miss him, I wonder who will be driving the cars next year? Hope DiResta doesn’t get dumped.
Are the Mol family who brought the Spyker name into F1
Sahara sponsors the Indian cricket and hockey teams and was also involved in Team India’s campaign in A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. They are certainly a safe pair of hands and I can foresee the team colours gradually changing to accommodate light blue, the sporting colour of India, and the colour in which the A1GP Team India car raced.
But how long before they decide enough is enough? Ever since Eddie Jordan left, the Silverstone-based squad has been changing colours as much they’ve changed tyres – from the yellow of Jordan, the black ‘n’ red of Midland and the orange of Spyker to the Indian tricolour via the white, red and tungsten interim Force India colours of 2008. The question now is, can Force India continue its upward rise and start aiming for podiums soon?
What “outrageous lie”? You’ve gone nuts on this one Joe!
Forzaminardi,
May I suggest that you reset your moral compass.
I agree with you completely Joe, I just don’t see the point in the outright lies, it’s disgusting especially as they are completely unwarranted!
Whats the difference between Mallyas denial and the Toro Rosso sale that you had highlighted??
VJM did an outstanding job to get FIF1 where they are now…
This new investment cannot do them anything but good! (and no… they don’t pay my wages..)
You were spot on Joe.
I wouldn’t worry about being economical with the truth, The future of the team is more important.
As Toyota will tell the whole world, throwing money at team is not a guarantee it’ll get better.
The official press release. http://www.forceindiaf1.com/index/page_id/356/news_id/677
Goks,
Is it true?
This team has been sold almost as many times as the commercial rights… Remember “Rock Family Trees” on BBC2? I had to draw a similar family tree for Jordan GP. No doubt EJ will stick his oar in this w/end.
Reports indicate both have a 42.5% stake with Mallya staying as team principal.
Abhijeet,
Can you rely on this being the truth? IIt is more likely that this is a step towards Mallya’s departure. He cannot be trusted to tell the truth, so we must decide waht we feel based on other things.
Thanks for the update, Joe.
Wish I could say otherwise, but no surprises there then. Funny, the things that one is reminded of. In this instance, it is of a childrens playground ditty, something about “Pants on fire”. Ho hum.
who do you like better joe, flavio or vijay?
Hi Joe,
Just a quick note that it is fairly common for businesses to deny any sale until the deal is done to avoid unecessary uncertainty particularly in what is probably a close knit business down there.
I am probably telling you something you already know but when we are acquiring companies in the business I work for it is flat denials until the deal is done.
George
George,
That does not make it right.
Well done on getting the scoop in the first place. I find it very sad when teams and/or individuals issue a point blank denial of a story knowing that it will be confirmed as true within a matter of days. There must be another solution.
Doesn’t due diligence prevent interested parties from divulging whether or a not a sale or part sale is taking place? Also, seeing as it was denied yesterday and we’re talking F1, this was a clear indication it was true!
Jono,
That is why they invented the expression “No comment”.
Let’s not forget directors’ voting pacts. I don’t think the other shareholders, one stumping up some serious wedge, would want anyone using a blocking share to tie down how that is spent. (it’s 3 way, but who leaves the minority as a decider, when pumping in prop up bread?)
But about the serious wedge, if Sahara get naming rights, you can extrapolate a discount from that, and you don’t end up with a much smaller sale effectively diluting the other holders as gone is the sponsor income potential.
Just looks like VJM is going to strut his stuff for a while, titular boss, and if the new shareholders are smart, they’ll wait ’till he puts boot in foot enough, and close out the rest, possibly cheaply.
There could be all kinds of deals riding on it, e.g. a put – call, VJM gets a floor price to sell later if push comes to shove, Sahara gets a higher price to finish buying, which wouldn’t look so steep if the business goes better. That strategy allows VJM to take any upward ride, mitigate any loss but claim a great turnaround. All bog standard stuff.
“completely untrue and without any basis whatsoever”, was the formal statement. The bits after the “and” are what don’t work. Maybe there was little choice, and he blathered because upset. Whopping porkie to have *sent out as a release*. Ignoring other thread because, well just read it again, “without any basis whatsoever”. When rumors fly – esp. here where he can walk up to all concerned – you can just smile and say “bollox” to people who ask, not write a statement. which just looks like being sensitive*.
*giggling at my own expense there too!
Now if before (when it was about Mallya selling a minor shareholding) we might have given Mallya the benefit of the doubt on his high profile denial of a sale of the team, now his words are compeltely hollow.
I understand that his pride would not allow him to remind the world that Mol held half of the team, and technically Mallya is now selling only 8 percent. But this really makes all the difference as the new shareholder immediately becomes the biggest one, and therefore will want to have considerable power.
The fact Mol wants to sell out is logical. He had his fun, the money can be invested much more lucratively now and he should have goten more than he payed for when he invested.
Fully agree that this will probalby mean Sahara taking over in the long term, who knows it might even spell badly for TATA sponsorship of HRT, as they could now come aboard and create a really Indian team.
What baffles me, is why Mallya did not push the line of FI being the first Indian team and now forging even stronger links with India by bringing in a new partner to replace Mol (it’s now over 80 % india owned after all). It would have done the deal of riding the wave of bringing F1 to India, and it would have been far closer to the truth.
Sorry, under the weather lately,
para 2, left the “don’t” there when i culled a double negative, hope meaning fairly obvious from the context.
final para, when i wrote “maybe there was little choice” i mean about the sale of shares, obviously, and not that there was no choice what to say.
I think you need to me more angry about this Joe. Liars, eh? Tsk!
I think Mallya’s statement that he did not intend to sell the team does fit in well with traditional Indian business practice. Fuzzy logic is rather popular in that country.
I’m familiar with a number of people that have done business in India and near unanimously they remarked that it was a rather frustrating experience. Once you understand what is going on and figure out how to work within such a culture, it is fine, but it is certainly a departure from how Western business operates.
We all expected this announcement AFTER the Indian GP didn’t we? As much as VJ wanted to save face I guess the new owner wanted the exposure and prestige.
The ultimate twist to this story would be if the Indian GP turns into a turkey, ala the Turkish GP. I suspect the Indian population will be more supportive of the event what with the Sahara Force India team on the grid.
But with Bernie manipulating the calendar and venues you can never be sure.
Wow! what can you say about credibility these days??? Anyway Vijay never came around as trustworthy person. He symbolizes the typical corrupt Indian politician whose sole aim is self-promotion and nothing else… Vijay has done absolutely nothing in terms of giving back to the country … all he does is belittle the two guys who fought their way in to F1. Tony Fernandes is the right guy to develop the sport in this region. He is genuine, seems honest, and is very passionate. I sincerely hope the Indian GP goes well despite the influence of crooks like Vijay. India is a great country and has a lot to offer to F1.
Hi Joe,
Being someone from India, I am very happy with this bit of news. You clearly do not like VJM and rightly so. The man clearly is an attention seeker and its high time Force India got some attention, rather than “brand Mallya”.
On the other hand, Sahara are a much more respected and stable company and they should definitely do more to promote F1 and Force India. But I think their hands will be tied, at-least until VJM’s stake is completely bought out.
On a personal note – This is the first time I am posting on your blog even though I have been an avid reader for a couple of years now (that includes your spy book). Thank you for your insightful blog.
Joe,
It’s not lie, just common practice in that part of the world!
Chee,
Well,you just wrote off a sub-continent…
Well there’s a surprise!
Congratulations Joe!
You were way ahead of everybody else on this story!
Interesting, although should it really surprise that a team boss or many F1 teams say’s one thing one day only later to learn the reality to be very different. As frustrating as this is, I have long learnt to take anything heard from a team/team boss with a rather large pinch of salt…
James Foreman,
That does not mean there is not a good reason to fight such things. If no-one fight then the liars, cheats and slimebags always win.
Mol Sr. and Jr. gave up their voting rights when VM bought this joint did not they?
From the ownership change, it looks more that the Mol family can’t afford to stay in, rather than Mallya? They sold most of the shares, after all.
Michel S
That is not the point. The team was not for sale yesterday. Today it is sold. I guess one of his holdings is in a Pork Pie factory.
I have to agree with Joe about the blatant lies element. He was not selling yesterday, yet today is no longer the largest shareholder.
With the number of people looking to buy a team (according to what I read on this excellent blog) why did he not just flog the whole outfit as its clear the Mols want to either disappear or be a really minor shareholder.
Joe – Don’t take the lying thing personally. Mr. Mallya was simply participating in the national sport of his home country’s businesspeople. Hint: It’s not Formula One.
Lon,
It is not personal. It is just immoral.
Dear Joe,
I do feel that If Vijay Mallya wants to sell off a stake in his team, and wants to keep it under wraps before it is ready to be announceed to the public, then perhaps it is the way he wants it to be.
I certainly don’t think it is sufficient to go as far in calling him a downright ‘outrageous’ liar.
Just my two cents.
Amol,
An intelligent man would have said nothing. He lied through his teeth. A sizeable chunk of the team was sold. He knew it. He lied. There is not even an argument. The only question is whether one accepts that it is fine to do such things. I don’t. He does. But why would I trust him ever again?
Well said Joe. A man after my own heart; tell it as it is. Pull no punches. Brilliant.
How does this mean that the Team is “sold”? He just got a business partner.
Abe,
So nothing was sold then?
Note that Mallya will in fact retain 42.5%, not 42% as reported above, thus giving him an equal ownership stake to Sahara:
http://www.forceindiaf1.com/index/page_id/356/news_id/677
Thus, it can be argued not that he’s “sold” Force India, but instead that he’s taken on an investor, or “partner” in his own words.
Sure, it’s splitting hairs, but your article is splitting hairs the other way…
CTP,
So the team was not for sale…
Remember where you heard it first!
India!…………………………………on September 30, 2011 at 17:00
Rumour about some ‘due diligence’ going on in the accounts department with the possibility of a partner or a big name sponsor? Just in time to help out the 10m+ wind tunnel investment planned..
Anyone got a lead into whom it may be?
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/force-india-sold/
Mr. Saward,
You have to take into account that the inaugural Indian GP is less than a month away. Mr. Mallaya recently made an announcement that he is shutting down the LCC unit of his airline. If he were to announce that he is selling Force India too, interest in the Grand Prix would have gone down tremendously. Because lets face it, Indian fans are not looking forward to Karthikeyan or Chandok but the Force India team.
Mr. Mallaya is not lying, he is only doing what is good for business. I am sure his “lies” had the full backing of the team, Bernie and the new owners too. The rest of the Formula One paddock is also smart enough to understand that and will accept it.
sumedh,
We all have out own moralities.
If Mallya has only sold a percentage, admittedly effectively half, has he technically lied? He hasn’t actually sold the team in that sense has he. Just playing devils advocate.
Joe,
I know that you have differences with Mallya, but here in the SF Bay Area, we see a different side. Each year Mallya provides cars from his notable collection, which is housed locally in Sausalito (http://mallyacollection.com/mallya/cars/list_only.asp?section=collection). The cars are standouts at the Sausalito Car Show. It’s a small show, not widely publicized, but the Mallya Collection is usually a highlight. He does love his cars and appreciates F1 history. Not all bad.
Too bad, there are some good people there.
Damn it Joe.
I’ve really enjoyed reading your blogs since I discovered them early this year.They’re always insightful,accurate,and to the point.
So why did you have to go and ruin it by deciding that you are now the moral compass of F1?
I’d noticed that you’ve always seemed to have a particularly arrogant attitude to replying to posts you disagreed with,but that was fair,because,after all this is your blog,and you should respond to others opinions in whatever way you see fit.But this time,you’ve gone to far,and you’ve done the story a complete dis-service by letting your own values and convictions influence your presentation of the facts.
Unfortunately,people telling “outrageous lies” is commonplace in F1.More unfortunately,you’ve chosen to go thermonuclear over this one,and it’s hard to see what makes this any more deserving of your vitriol than some of the other extremely questionable acts that have gone on in recent years.Seems somewhat hypocritical on your part,and your objectivity has faltered I’m afraid to say. I think some of the more vigorous posters on these last two stories have noticed that.
I applaud your moral stand,and I truly appreciate your work.I just wish you hadn’t melded them with such force.
Sorry dude,but you’ve lost a reader.
This is not an attack,it’s a viewpoint,if you do not publish it,I will understand.
Racefans26,
The loss of a reader with such opinions is no loss.
I’m lost for words.
Mr S you seem to be getting a little obsessive abou this.
I’m just annoyed that VJM is still around, I was hoping he’d be gone. Oh well, not too long to wait now I suspect. There’s a lot I like about Force India, but VJM is a big blot on their copybook. As the Mols sell up more and VJM loses control, he’ll go elsewhere to promote himself. Sahara will no doubt want him out sooner rather than later.
I know now much about Sahara other than they’ve been plastered all over the Indian cricket team for years and they were involved in A1GP (where NK drove for them). The involvement in A1GP does suggest that motorsport as a way to promote India and as a growth area in India is something they’ve been looking at for a while, and with the Indian GP coming it makes sense that now is the time to get into F1.
There’s several reasons why this blog is always my 1st port of call, and today Joe you demonstrated one of them. Keep fighting the power!
I agree that VM should have opted for a simple no comment or he ought just to have maintained silence for 24 hours. It’s not as if it was unexpected news anyway and so would hardly have compromised his deal. To come out and flatly deny an inevitable event feels like a contempt for others on his part.
A lot of people don’t seem to understand the difference between F1 journalist and a real jorurnalist, out of which i consider Joe Saward to be the latter.
Moreover, If you consider that a public persona, such as Mallya is, can go on the record and state “FI is not for sale” and then sell a stake days later, is not a blatant lie – then you should go and read James’ Allen blog as there is no mentioning of this there…. (with no disrespect to mr.Allen whatsoever)
At the end of the day apart from just reporting the news it is important to be mentioned what’s right and what’s wrong in this world – and the actions of the current team principle are clearly not on the right side.
And before start telling me it’s F1 and things like that happen on a daily basis just remember people like David Purley or Ayrton Senna who fought for what is right for this sport…
I’m sure if the prime minister of the country you live in goes on tv and claims that there is no recession and few days later signs a billion bail-out plan for the major banks you will have a different opinion.
Last but not least, this is a blog, not a news article on Financial Times (although most of the posts here are worthy to be published there as well) and in case you don’t like the personal opinion of the author, you are free to choose and find different media outlets to gather your information (as mentioned earlier)
Joe, keep up the good and honest work and don’t let the internet trolls (a modern term lately) get to you!
Hmm maybe these common business practices can go f themselves.
Who is demanding a press release? Shareholders?
What person in their right mind would leave money in a company like this? What else would they lie about?
Grow up, and live in the real world? Was Mr Mallaya just following orders like so many drivers, team employees etc? Does that make it ok? Is F1 about money, and since lies are fine with money, what financial crisis, well great? Car racing??
I am looking forward to the Indian race, to see the passion of the fans a few years ago when Narain Karthekeyan raced in Melbourne was awesome!
All the best,
Michael
For me this goes right to the heart of “business” and “F1″.
As a consumer I avoid companies and people that lie. Why would busimess be any different?
“our cars don’t explode”….
“well ok they did, but we wanted to shore up the share price”
Ok then.
If the “rest of the paddock” are so smart to support this I would be glad to be thought of as stupid.
Now that VJ has sold a larger stake of the team I wonder if this will influence who drives for Force India in 2012. Could there now be an Indian Driver in one of their race seats next season?.
Keep up the good work Joe, VJ can now pay off Tonio.
Atleast both r Indians……. Thank god no outsiders involved.
I’m with Joe on this. F1 is rife with lying and the attitude of “that’s just the way it is, always has been, always will be, so live with it” is the coward’s attitude. People who think like that are “part of the problem”, as Luther King would say.
Mallya could easily have said that he doesn’t comment on financial issues, only on racing issues. While a “no comment” can usually be interpreted as “the rumours are true”, not commenting at all about the finance side would be fine (as long as that stance is maintained). Like anyone who tells a barefaced lie to the public, Mallya’s actions were reprehensible and he joins the list of people like Boullier, Hamilton, Briatore, Piquet Jr., Horner, Fry, Mosley and Ecclestone as vile people who can’t be trusted.
Well done Joe!
I am totally with you on this Joe. I remember a week back a leading publication carried a story of Force India being sold and you too had mentioned this on your blog but VJM totally denied this. And yesterday we get this!!!
Jordan was always a great team and despite their minimal resources they even managed to challenge for the title during the 1999 season.
Before Force India the team became Midlands and then Spyker and even since VJM has taken the team, the team has progressed from a back-marker to a mid-filed team. This is good but what is the future for the team?
McLaren and Mercedes can field drivers of their nationality as given the caliber of the drivers they can. When was the last time Ferrari fielded an Italian driver? In the era of Pay Drivers, it will be bad to see a bad driver behind the wheels of FI when the likes of Hulk does not even have a drive!
Also Joe, Sahara is heavily involved in Cricket and I came across this advertisement for some FI merchandise.
Do go through the link – http://www.businesswireindia.com/attachments/Pic_1(235).jpg
Is it not stupid to see a cricketer endorsing a F1 team’s merchandise? I would like to have your point of view on this Joe.
Joe, as a long-time reader of your blog, I just wanted to let you know that I disagree with you this time and I think that the reaction is too harsh. I guess you have written before about how the truth is often denied by F1 people so Mallya’s case seems to be quite typical and the guy has done a lot of good things for F1 as well. That said, you don’t need to change or adjust your opinions. I love your blog, it’s one of the best on the web. I love that you always say what you really think, keep doing that and I will keep reading your thoughts and will think about buying the Grand Prix plus, too.
$100M, and how long does that last in F1′s ,money pit ?
Someone asked if FI would be hunting podiums, if I remember F1 budgets correctly that would keep them bobbing about in midfield for a couple of years….
Melonfarmer wrote:
“No doubt EJ will stick his oar in this w/end.”
We should have a competition for the best Jordanism to cover this tumultuous event. Prizes for the most surreal Jordanesque collage of drivvel and maybe, one for the poster who gets nearest EJ’s own version of things.
I’d also add Ryan, Jordan, Symonds & Luca di Montezemolo to that list. One day Formula 1 will clean up its act, and people like Joe Saward are the ones who we’ll be thanking.
Actually, the moral thing is an interesting Q. If you don’t ask, or speak out, who the eff upholds anything? Or do we all consider it adequate simile, a potentially massive bribe scandal, like being had by a dodgy taxi driver (and in that analogy someone got their defensive knickers in a twist, would not hire them).
In a week where a tiny state’s government – which had actually managed to be prudent – collapsed because they’d not offer up twice their GDP to bail out screwed up big state banks, whilst the same banks can count as assets their own borrowings, because theoretically they are so cheap on the market they could refinance at a profit (and the fun thing here is they fiddled the starting line by some 30%, see almost any halfwit news outlet), and when the whole seeming, teeming, seemingly addled lot of us durs’nt think of tightening belt, can no-one imagine that it is a good idea to call out the crap?
I’m hitting the macro view, because VJM is deep under water, financially, and looks to be a product of free / hot money. You or i will be picking up the bills, one way or the other. Despite the crudest money generation maybe yet known, the west has been lumped with moribund growth, and those big figures in other places, are as much a scam as our own statistics, because we applied western notions of cost of living to countries who haven’t this largely, and so we suddenly measured only a few of their populous.
Disclaimer: i am in NO way attracted to nor interested in radical protests going on about the economy. It needs a doctor. Do you in emergency want your doctor high as a kite on adrenaline? The answer is to balance those who purport to have reason which is but shadow of agenda or incompetence. Diagnose, not big nose.
A few – a lot – of people here seem to be swayed by cynicism without incision. If you want to cut through the crap, sometimes there is only one bad apple.
nuff mixing metaphors, but it took three generations to get my family out of abject poverty, and i have have had enough of negativity, including from me. Look up, not down. Just not up to who looks down on you, and decency. Not resting my case, that was my open to the jury!
More lightly, whichever way people here are arguing, does anyone not think the whole story sucks?
yours,
– john
I think a lot of people are missing the point that Joe has made. It’s not that VJM has sold the team – that’s his business, fair and square. It’s not that, as is normal business practice, one discusses these things behind closed doors.
But when there is clear evidence to the contrary and instead of either saying ‘no comment’ or a similar non-committal statement, what was stated was an obvious and blatant lie. VJM doesn’t have a great track record in F1 – just look at the trail of breached contracts and lost court cases for proof of that.
As usual, Joe was well ahead of everyone on that and should be applauded for his proper professional journalism and the fact he shared his news with us.
I may not always agree with Joe’s opinions on everything, but I love the fact we can express our views and he often replies to them – sometimes they’re better & more amusing than the post itself!
Ian Pee,
Thanks for that. Right now, I am not really interested in doing it because the criticism and abuse does wear you down when you are doing something for nothing.
There are so many people who know everything without ever having set foot in a paddock that I am tempted to not bother. My colleagues all think I am mad to do what I do, and I am beginning to think that they are right.
Ouch, i was getting serious . . that last comment brought to you by Alan Parsons, Turn It Up, on Try Anything Once loud on the phones after a 12hr shift
Can i just say, by way of asking forgiveness, that a very high proportion of deals i do / do not do are based on the slightest of misgivings, not even close to something in writing like this. I could write a freaking book on the (fortunately few in number, but see, just see) times i have buried my head in the sand to go “la la la” and ignore signals. Why a book? Because that’s how epic those f’ups get, and how bad they cost you. Better books than i could pen have been premised on just one such mistake. Oh, yeah, and considering my line of trade, the bullshitting is way way more sophisticated, i promise you. Hope no-one took offense, was trying to seek higher ground, to get over the mists. yours – j
People look at this piece of news as if VM had been paid 100m for selling his shares whereas he and Mol seem to have accepted a dilution of their stake via a 100m investment in the team. Totally different reality and great news for might Force India!
“Subsequent to subscribing to new shares, Sahara India Pariwar will be investing approximately USD 100 mn into the Force India Formula One Team.”
Am I missing something? Mallya has the same shareholding as the new partners. Where has he sold the team? Where did he lie? Surely the crux of the story is that of the implications for the team, rather than a desire to claim Mallya’s alleged ‘lies’? Don’t know what your problem is, Joe, but if I get an investor who is willing to hold the same shares in my business as I am, I haven’t sold it…..
So Mallya giving shares to people in exchange for money does not constitute a sale. Sorry, you have lost me there.
Slight tangent, Proton announced that Lotus is NOT for sale..lol.
Hi Joe, just to add to the discussion about denying something and then being confirmed doing something quite close to that a couple of days later – what about Proton denying that Lotus is sold to GenII – http://www.auto123.com/en/racing-news/formula-1/f1-proton-denies-selling-lotus-to-renault-owner-genii?artid=136578&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=racing
Quote “Proton hereby states that the alleged moves between Group Lotus and Genii Capital are untrue and that the reports are highly speculative in nature,”
- I guess the way they formulated that one it really leaves all variants of GenII or a company they are in league with buying into Lotus in any form. Showing how Mallya might have formulated his statement instead of the strongly worded one he did.
BasCB,
I am happy to be proved wrong, but sourcing is very good and politics is probably at play. In the finest tradition, however, time will tell…
I see that Proton have denied that Lotus is up for sale and that Gerald Lopez won’t be buying it. Autosport report that “Proton said the reports were “untrue and highly speculative”, and that it had no plans to make a deal with Genii Capital.”
So when will their post-sale press conference happen?
@joesaward
I think its really great you put in the effort to do this Blog Joe, as Ian Pee wrote, it gives wonderfull insight and discussing things is great.
A shame many people do not get the difference between discussion based on facts, using unconfirmed but reliable information to form an opion/conclusion and argueing for the sake of disagreeing or not liking people.
Thanks for your effort.
I’m with Ian Pee & Bacs on this. Don’t stop, your blog is the best, and I’ve followed F1 avidly for 45 years. It really is a daily pleasure to go to this site and get an insight. Many thanks.
More power to your elbow, Joe. If nobody holds the liars to account for the lies, they get away with it.
steve turnbull,
this one just woke me up from my feverish sleep, but it is a cold more likely,
my point much earlier, is i do not think that a forced seller of shares whose business needs a injection of cash capital far greater than the sum of parts can retain control. Life saving amounts, no matter how you account, unless there is no check for close to the headline sum. The rest is face saving.
I do not think this has yet set a baseline for the price of buying a F1 team. Airlines are notorious for never having returned a shareholder a penny, ever – and i mean ever – in history, over any medium term. Three on the block. And a real car company wants their way to sort out two messes. Four on the block. And a funny one. And some once great teams thinking it’s too easy because the others are so awful.
Do not blame a single one of them. Someone high up got blinkers on to all but their own mess, did not look out of their fully reclining seat to see the sky darkening. Movie, on demand. Towering Inferno.
That better explains my feverishness, not the plight or otherwise of one businessman, whom actually i bear no malice at all.
I happen to give a toss because a favorite driver (within one season, eff me, that’s a first for me) needs this sorted next year, regardless of engine manufacturer sponsorship. But this is not partisanship. It also explains why i want the back end of the grid opened up. Otherwise Luca di’s oft repeated wish will become prophesy.
Take it another way: the sport did well when the buck stopped with one man. He sold up. Where does it stop now? Yes, I want him to pile in and sort it out and would rather he did. Actually, please. And . . smile!
hope at least my first bit was coherent,
yours, atishooo! – j
if true, VJ M & S Roy will prove to be a deadly combination.