The Aston Martin name won’t be returning to Formula 1 with Force India, at least not in 2016, as the proposed deal has been placed on hold by the British car company.
There had been deep discussions between Aston Martin’s management and Force India about taking a stake in the team and rebranding it Aston Martin Racing to promote their high-performance cars.
However Force India’s chief operating officer Otmar Szafanuer confirmed such deal has been put on hold, but insists it isn’t completely dead.
“It probably won’t happen for 2016, but we’re still talking,” he told Autosport.
“They have a lot of initiatives and they’re changing their line-up of cars. They’re a great company with very exciting times ahead of them, and you never know when they’ll choose Formula 1 as a marketing tool.
“So for 2016 I don’t think that will happen. There is still an opportunity somewhere down the line, maybe even from ’17,” he added. “We’re still in communication with them all the time, and definitely it’s not dead.”
