Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley has warned any deal with Aston Martin is “still a little way off”.
Team co-owner Vijay Mallya told Reuters in Mexico City that “there is excitement on both sides” with regards to a potential deal with Aston Martin which would see the Force India team renamed and include sponsorship from Johnnie Walker. Having confirmed the talks, Fernley told F1i there are still no guarantees a deal will be completed.
“Two things: one is I think it’s a shareholder issue and is a discussion [that is ongoing] with Vijay,” Fernley said. “And secondly it is still a little way off.
“It’s got to be credit to the team that they are attracting such a great brand as Aston, even if it is just for discussions.”
And Fernley is pleased with the strong position Force India now finds itself in in terms of the set-up of the team having overhauled its aerodynamic department ahead of the 2015 season.
“The beauty of it now is we’ve made those changes. The changes obviously with hindsight were right because that was the only opportunity we were going to have to be able to make that change and be able to move quickly in to the 2017 car. If we were having to do that this winter it would have been a nightmare.”
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