His airline may be bankrupt but Vijay Mallya is nonetheless going full steam on the F1 circuit. Sahara Force India team principal Mallya has pumped in $32 million into his Formula One team, ahead of the first race of the season in Melbourne.
Personal investment company Watson has loaned Force India nearly $10 million while Mallya’s bankrupt Kingfisher Airlines and his beer and spirit arm has generated the remaining $12 million through sponsorship.
Force India, which finished in sixth place last year, has improved each season. Mallya also feels that Force India’s 2012 F1 challenge is the ‘best engineering car we have produced’.
“Our testing form has looked competitive, but it’s only when we get to the first race that we really get a feel for the pecking order and how well everyone has done over the winter. From our side there is no doubt that Andrew Green and his technical team have done an outstanding job to deliver a well-balanced car. I would even go as far as saying the VJM05 is the best engineered car we have produced and the detail of the design is beautiful. It’s a car we believe can help us take another step forward,” he said.
Last year Force India sold a 42.5 per cent stake to Sahara.
Source: indiantelevision.com