Lawrence Stroll has set out his goals for the future of the renamed Racing Point F1 team.
As the future of the Force India outfit became less certain, the Canadian fashion mogul emerged as the man set to save the Silverstone squad from demise, doing so after the company entered administration in July.
While many saw Stroll’s takeover as a way of ensuring his son Lance remained on the Formula 1 grid, despite being quite secure at Williams, Lawrence revealed his real reasons for stepping in.
“I looked at it as a business opportunity, coupling that with spending time speaking to F1 bosses to understand their vision from 2021, which is some sort of budget cap and some sort of better revenue distribution to the smaller teams,” he said to Formula1.com.
“That makes great business sense for a company like this, as this is the model of direction closer to where the future will go.
“I’ve been around the sport for 30 years. There are only 10 teams and if you look at the value of the franchise, whether it be NFL, UK rugby or football, the value of an asset like this, treated properly, cherished over time significantly appreciates.
“I think the same thing will happen here.”
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Known for punching above their weight, given the resources they had, Force India would have finished fifth in last year’s Constructors’ Championship had their points not being wiped after the Racing Point entry was made prior to the Belgian Grand Prix.
Now with the funds to push on and develop even further, Stroll does have high expectations of what the team, which will have its permanent name revealed next month, can achieve.
“Short-term, we want to stay fighting where we are. Medium-term, we want to try and fight for third, instead of fourth and long-term, when all the rules change, hopefully, we will be one of the greatest teams in the paddock,” he declared.
This season Lance Stroll will race alongside Sergio Perez, however, it is the leadership of team boss Otmar Szafnauer and technical director Andrew Green that Stroll Sr. will look to back.
“[The team] already has great leadership and management, they have been doing this for a long time and doing a great job,” he noted.
“So, it’s about supporting them. It’s about putting financial stability in place.”