After emerging as the most likely partner for an Aston Martin Formula 1 deal, Force India has yet to receive a final go-ahead decision from the British manufacturer.
Sources have even suggested that the talks were losing momentum and that senior management wasn’t giving the deal the necessary backing. A recent Sky report even stated that the deal was more likely not to get done “in 2016, at least. But it could certainly be revisited in [the] future.”
Aston Martin marketing & communications exec Simon Sproule stated that the discussion is still ongoing and that whatever decision his company reaches won’t involve just F1 but a wider array of motor sport activities.
“We have not made any decision,” clarified Sproule. “And we are not likely to make any final decision about either F1 or the broader motor sport strategy until the New Year.”
“We also have to figure out what our path forward in sportscar racing is, and where we go with that. We are not looking at F1 in isolation.”
This is of course disappointing for those who actually got excited about the deal, when the initial report came out in October. A deal between Aston Martin and Force India would undoubtedly help both brands, both from a marketing perspective as well as from a technical perspective.
Aston Martin could certainly benefit from having better access to state of the art racing technologies that might eventually make their way to their road cars. Sure, Aston Martin Racing has plenty of motor sport experience, but GT racing cars tend to not be as innovative as Formula 1 cars.
Story references: motorsport
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