Force India Deputy Team Principal Bob Fernley has called on Formula 1’s new owners to work faster in deciding and implementing changes as the team reveals a bigger financial loss in 2016, despite higher prize money.
The midfield teams have been looking to CEO Chase Carey and Motorsport Managing Director Ross Brawn to usher in their vision for a more level playing field between all the teams and take real action to help those smaller operations financially whether it be through reducing spending or increasing revenue.
Though it is known Liberty can’t implement too much before the end of the current Concorde Agreement, which ends after 2020, Fernley expected at least a more concrete idea of the path they want to take F1 down.
“I’m disappointed in some ways,” he told Motorsport.com. “We have done an awful lot of talking and an awful lot of ideas have come through. But when we’re nine months down the road, you’d have thought we’d have been firming something up a bit more now.”
Much of the focus in recent months has been on deciding the engine regulations for 2021 and beyond, with cost and greater simplicity among the key criteria set out. Even on this issue, however, the often outspoken Briton wasn’t pleased.
“The engine programme should be finalised because that is the cornerstone of the cost control programme,” he claimed. “Cost control should be coming through very closely behind it, if that’s where we’re going, because people have to respond to it.
“The clock is ticking. It won’t be long until we’re into next year. I was hoping we would be seeing something now, at least a skeleton of where we’re going but we’re getting nothing at all.
“There has been a lot of meetings behind closed doors, now, it’s a case of Liberty presenting something that can be considered.”
As mentioned, Fernley’s comments come as it is revealed the team made a nett loss of £11.6m in 2016, an increase of almost £5m compared to the year before despite gaining almost £13m more in revenue.
Fluctuations in the currencies would be given as the main reason for the higher loss, however, it does back up regular claims from those who are against greater cost control who claim money saved in one area would simply be then spent in another.
The outlook for the team is rosier, however, with prize money from their best ever finish of fourth in the Teams’ standings due this year and Force India is firmly on course to repeat that performance again in 2017.
Also, a significant deal with BWT, which resulted in the pink liveries, and money saved on engine and gearbox costs by hiring Esteban Ocon from Mercedes will bolster their balance sheet.
