Sahara Force India will not be rebranded as Aston Martin for the 2016 Formula 1 season, Otmar Szafnauer has confirmed. Talks with the British sports car manufacturer continue over a potential tie-up in the future.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 stage at the Autosport International show, Szafnauer confirms that a deal would not happen for this season although the option could be revisited in the future.
“It was flattering to have the serious discussions with Aston Martin and it’s a big decision for them to enter the sport and also to partner with Force India,” said Force India’s chief operating officer.
“The talks are still ongoing. I can’t foresee it for 2016, but you don’t know what the future holds. The door isn’t shut on that but for 2016 we’ll remain Force India.”
The Silverstone based team enjoyed their best season to date in 2015 with finishing fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. Szafnauer is confident the team can carry on their 2015 success into their 2016 season.
“If all goes well, we should start where we left off in 2015. We finished the season in a strong position and our aim over the winter is to maintain our competitiveness at that level,” he said.
“The regulations haven’t changed drastically, a little bit here and there, so we’re maintaining the same development path that we’ve been on and hopefully we’ve done a bit better job with the budgets over the winter so there won’t be a B-spec in the middle of the year and we can come out fighting at the first race.”
