RUMOUR: Michael Andretti to take over Force India
Rumors
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Michael Andretti was at the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend, and Joe Saward reported he wasn't just there to lure Fernando Alonso to the IndyCar series; he was there to talk about a potential Force India takeover as well.
The veteran reporter noticed that because of the people Andretti was with, he couldn't have been there just for Alonso.
“It was clear that this [Alonso] was not Michael’s only purpose for being in Montreal, as he was accompanied by his company president J-F Thormann and the familiar figure of Pieter Rossi, father of Andretti driver, Indy 500 winner and sometime F1 driver, Alexander Rossi.
“Visits to Liberty Media and Force India suggested that they were there to sniff around and see if a deal could be put together to acquire the troubled team.
"It seems, from multiple sources, that a financial solution is required VERY quickly if Force India is going to avoid getting into financial and legal trouble.
“Having an Andretti team in F1 would be a terrific thing as the World Championship seeks to make a bigger impression in the United States.
“[Force India] is a great opportunity as there is a competitive turnkey F1 operation, which would simply require a bit of rebranding, but Andretti and is unlikely to jump in unless he knows what it is going to cost, and that is not going to be certain until we get an answer to the question of the F1 budget cap – and the length of its glide path. ”