The latest update of Force India’s bid to compete at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix has come with speculation of significant driver changes for next weekend’s race at Monza.
Following the takeover by Lawrence Stroll during the summer break, the Silverstone-based squad is facing a race against time as the Canadian currently does not own an entry into the 2018 Formula 1 championship.
Instead, a new parent company has been set up with the assets of Force India being transferred but unanimous agreement is required from all teams before that entry is then also transferred to the new owners.
According to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, the latest proposal would see Force India lose all of the points they have scored in the opening 12 races but would in effect re-enter the championship from zero making them eligible for points and prize money over the final nine events.
McLaren, Renault and Williams were reportedly against a similar idea put forward during the summer break, with Renault’s managing director Cyril Abiteboul looking for reassurances over the growing influence Mercedes could play in the new Force India team.
However, should the situation be resolved it is likely to trigger a series of driver changes for the Italian Grand Prix.
Lance Stroll would make the widely expected move to his father’s new purchase from Williams with Esteban Ocon reportedly heading to McLaren in place of Stoffel Vandoorne.
Current reserve driver Robert Kubica would then fill in for the Canadian at the Grove team with Stroll Sr. maintaining financial support until the end of the season.
All of this is purely speculation at the moment but after what has been a chaotic few weeks in the driver market, more changes could come sooner than anyone expected.