2012 Sahara Force India

Looks like Vijay has started selling the family silver.

http://in.reuters.co...E8A70D120121109


"Reuters) - Diageo Plc(DGE.L) has agreed to buy a 53.4 percent stake in liquor baron Vijay Mallya's United Spirits Ltd(UNSP.NS) for $2.1 billion, giving the world's biggest spirits group a larger slice of a fast-growing market."

Today, the Guardian brings us "The rise and fall of Vijay Mallya: are India's boom times ending?" http://www.guardian....her-broke-india

Good read above. He's be better off sticking with beer and selling the airline, cut his losses. Sounds like a money pit, especially if it has never had a profit and now their economy is slowing down. However it seems he likes the airline for the same reason he likes the F1 team, as a status thing.

Andy

Good read above. He's be better off sticking with beer and selling the airline, cut his losses. Sounds like a money pit, especially if it has never had a profit and now their economy is slowing down. However it seems he likes the airline for the same reason he likes the F1 team, as a status thing.

Andy

The old joke in the aviation industry was always "How does an airline owner become a millionaire? By starting as a billionaire".

Mind you, I have heard the same saying used about F1.

Good signs of stability

An extra 50 Mil sure can't hurt. Wonder if Nico might be having some second thoughts after this announcement?

An extra 50 Mil sure can't hurt. Wonder if Nico might be having some second thoughts after this announcement?

Don't think. He is probably more content that the financial future of his team for next year is backed by Carlos Slim and Roman Abramovich.

Good signs of stability

saward can eat his hat. lol!

saward can eat his hat. lol!

First question which come to mind when seeing the headline is the mclaren/force India tech deal finishing at the end of this year?

If so and not being renewed then they are need to invest more in the team rather than this investment being part of additional grow into one of the bigger teams?

Good signs of stability

It doesn't seem to say WHERE this 50 million is coming from?

It doesn't seem to say WHERE this 50 million is coming from?

It's come from "the board" back in India, apparently. The Economic Times of India story also notes that Mallya recently sold control of his alcohol business to Diageo for something like $2 billion. So "the board", whoever they are, presumably have some bags of cash lying around.

And interestingly enough no time frame has been given for when, or over how long a period, this £50 million will be put into the team.

Good signs of stability

Do not trust.

It's come from "the board" back in India, apparently. The Economic Times of India story also notes that Mallya recently sold control of his alcohol business to Diageo for something like billion. So "the board", whoever they are, presumably have some bags of cash lying around.

And interestingly enough no time frame has been given for when, or over how long a period, this million will be put into the team.

If one is Smart.... then it's pertinent that you DO NOT BELIEVE THIS MAN!!!

For the last year, every other month, he has been saying to the Indian press- while hiding his a$$ in London- that KingFisher Airlines is going to be on the rise, and that his 3000-employees should stick with him. He even attacked the media by saying that they are cr@p and are reporting wrongly.

So what did the 3000-odd employees get for believing in this Fata$$--- Approx 1 Year of unpaid Salaries, while still being threatened by the airlines bosses of getting fired if they abandoned their post, or strike the Airline.

So much sh!t & lies about New Funds were given to the employees throughout the year to dangle the carrot of hope.... that the suffering got too much even for the Indian Government, who finally grounded the airlines and asked the employees to stay home & hope for the best.

Whenever the Media has managed to get hold of him, he goes on the attack about how he will "Show them what he is capable of".... instead of putting a proper summary of the situation for the employees.

Last month, he promised to pay 4 months worth of Wages on "record".... which did not come as expected. It' one thing to say you are a useless man, the other to blatantly lie. Also, none of his business is his, it's all inherited from his father.... so basically he is squandering family money.

So it basically worries me when he says he got a gazzillion Dollars for Force India

Edited by BackOnTop, 22 November 2012 - 06:51.

Do not trust.

Mallaya is, one can say, the Indian Made-off, with a very different rip program.

Edited by BackOnTop, 22 November 2012 - 06:55.

An extra 50 Mil sure can't hurt. Wonder if Nico might be having some second thoughts after this announcement?

They probably won't reap the rewards of this until 2014 car is ready.

So, is it really going to be Adrian Sutil again? Vijay Mallya talks about the possibility.

"Weder im aktuellen Fahrerfeld noch in der GP2 scheint es derzeit einen Fahrer der Klasse von Nico zu geben, um ihn zu ersetzen. Wir müssen etwas weiter denken und das tun wir gerade. Wir brauchen einen Fahrer, der erwiesenermaßen schnell und talentiert ist. Wir brauchen jemanden, der Paul einheizt. Ich schaue mir sogar Optionen an, wie die, dass wir Adrian Sutil zurückholen"

"There seem no drivers in the current field nor in the GP2 who have the class of Nico - to replace him. We have to think in bigger dimensions and that's what we're doing. We need a driver who proved that he's quick and talented. We need somebody who's firing up Paul. I even consider options like getting Adrian Sutil back."

"Adrian war schon immer ein sehr schneller Fahrer. Ja, er war ein Jahr weg von der Formel 1. Ich glaube aber nicht, dass dies ein großer Nachteil ist. Ich wäge jedenfalls sehr genau ab, denn die Fahrerwahl ist für das gesamte Team sehr wichtig und wir wollen die richtige Entscheidung treffen."

"Adrian has always been a blistering quick driver. Yes, he has been a year off. But I don't think that this is a big disadvantage. I deliberate exactly, because the choice of a driver is very important for the whole team and we want to make the right decision."

So, is it really going to be Adrian Sutil again?

To be honest, I can't see any better option to Force India if Sutil is back to his 2011 form.

That would be pretty uncomfortable for di Resta, I guess. Last year he was a rookie and he lost to an established driver. Next year he will be in his 3rd full F1 season, and if he doesn't beat a driver who had a one year break, it would suggest he is just not good enough.

I know for some people he is already proven to be mediocre, but I'll wait for next year to have a better picture. It's no shame to lose with Hulk IMO and his rookie season, while not outstanding, was not that bad either. I would like to pair him with Kobayashi. It would be a season of the truth for both. If one of them is convincingly beaten by another, it's time for him to make a place for others to get their chance.

That would be pretty uncomfortable for di Resta, I guess. Last year he was a rookie and he lost to an established driver. Next year he will be in his 3rd full F1 season, and if he doesn't beat a driver who had a one year break, it would suggest he is just not good enough.

He's just losing against a driver who had a one year break

Stuart Codling: "The sensible journo, faced with a press release in which a man with no ££ claims to be spending £50m on his windtunnel, laughs & hits delete"

In the general way of press releases, it's difficult to see whether the '£50million investment' is incremental spend, or the whole of Force India's budget for next year. It has been reported that both of the 'headline' sponsors (ie Kingfisher and Sahara) have quite large financial issues (about $7billion worth of them to date, and counting), and it is well-known that Mr Mallya no longer controls the drinks brands which were the team's supplementary sponsors.....simply dipping into their advertising budgets would not seem wholly feasible. So are there other sponsors on the horizon for the day-to-day operating budget? And, how much can Mr Mallya himself put up?

I think Force India's staff have done fantastically well with the tools at their disposal.....the big question is: "will they have the same tools next year?" I hope so.

He's just losing against a driver who had a one year break

Yeah. But it sounds a bit different if he is losing against the driver who has more impressive record in junior formulas than vast majority of drivers who are in F1 and who is believed to be capable of finding a top seat in the future by many, than to be losing with a driver who was in F1 for a while and failed to find a seat elsewhere after his first and so far last F1 team decided not to renew a deal with him.

Yeah. But it sounds a bit different if he is losing against the driver who has more impressive record in junior formulas than vast majority of drivers who are in F1 and who is believed to be capable of finding a top seat in the future by many, than to be losing with a driver who was in F1 for a while and failed to find a seat elsewhere after his first and so far last F1 team decided not to renew a deal with him.

Yes. and facility manager sounds better than janitor.

So will FI keep Merc or will they switch to Ferrari next year ... there were some rumors some weeks ago, do we know anything new?

So will FI keep Merc or will they switch to Ferrari next year ... there were some rumors some weeks ago, do we know anything new?

Were those rumours not for 2014? It would be awfully strange to change engine suppliers just before a major change.

guess you are right ....

Yey the rumours were for 2014 when Mercedes perhaps want to supply the Mercedes team exklusvily with their engines, so Force India perhaps to Ferrari and McLaren to Honda.