In 1991, Michael Schumacher was suddenly asked to fill a seat for a team called Jordan. While the team didn’t leave much of a mark, the sport will always be indebted to them for the Belgian GP race they let Schumacher drive. Over the years, the team has changed many outfits, rebranding itself for the fourth time and becoming Force India in 2008. The team is currently in its sixth avatar racing as Aston Martin for three seasons now. But after an almost decade-long great run on a meager budget, what happened to Force India?

What happened to the Force India team?

Indian Business tycoon, Vijay Mallya, had bailed out a sinking Spyker F1 and after a decade-long successful spree, Mallya found himself in financial and legal troubles. In the 2018 mid-season, the Force India F1 team was put into administration on the eve of the Hungarian GP. The assets of the team were purchased by Racing Point UK. And due to the development happening mid-season, the team’s official entry was not transferable. This meant the official entry beginning from 1991, the same year Schumacher came onto the scene, ended.

Mallya could no longer afford to run the team. This is when Lawrence Stroll stepped in. The billionaire who has an enviable collection of Ferraris has always been the one to appreciate speed. Moreover, his son was driving for Williams Racing at the time.

The change of guards between the billionaire businessmen brought Lance Stroll to Racing Point and Lawrence Stroll to F1.

Who is the owner of Aston Martin? Where is the Racing Point F1 team now?

Aston Martin may seem like a new team on the block, but the team dates back to the times when Jack Brabham won his championships, i.e. 1959 and 1960. Yes, the iconic team had graced the sport when it wasn’t too old. However, after decades of absence, the team found its way back to the F1 grid in 2021. Senior Stroll had a vision that is evidently manifesting itself on the grid as Fernando Alonso has risen from the ashes and put the team on the podium 3 out of 3 times we have gone racing in 2023.

However, smartly enough, Stroll opted for a neutral name like Racing Point before he could strike a deal with a big shit. Took him a year and a half, but the deal saw the Pink team convert itself to green beasts.

A News feature by Crash.net in 2020 read, “The collaboration is a significant one for both Racing Point and Aston Martin, with the sponsorship running over a four-year period that begins in 2021. In the meantime, Aston Martin will see out its current title sponsorship of the Red Bull team, which will come to a conclusion at the end of this season following an agreement to release the British manufacturer from its F1 exclusivity clause.”

What is the Force India owner doing now?

India’s Supreme Court found Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court. As reported by BBC News, the owner of sunk Kingfisher Airlines had failed to disclose his assets post his inability to meet a loan repayment. The owner of Force India was hence sentenced to a jail term amounting to four months. Force India, which has a tally of pole positions, podiums, and fastest laps, could not roll out upgrades in 2018 as the season saw the team going bankrupt. Allegations of fraud and non-repayment of the loan on Mallya had already been making the rounds when the Canadian business tycoon bailed the team out.

Unfortunately, the man who had breathed a new life into the team carrying the historic Jordan DNA is not around the F1 circus to see the team flourish. The Silverstone-based team made a 2.4-second leap during the winter break, putting themselves only second to the blazing-fast Red Bulls.

Watch This Story: How Aston Martin F1 Turned Around From a Struggling Mid-Field Team to Being the 2nd Fastest in 2023

Were you an F1 fan around the time current Red Bull driver Sergio Perez raced for Force India and Racing Point? Or is this all news to you? The world of F1 has many layers, and this was one such layer we spoke of.