The four lives of Force India

But right now, Force India is on the ropes.

Last Friday, the team was forced into administration by driver Sergio Perez with debts owing of more than £159m. This is a highly complex situation. For starters, the team actually asked Perez to take the action to protect it from potential winding up orders, which would put more than 400 loyal staff out of work and cost F1 a valued entrant.

The problems stem from team boss Vijay Mallya’s long-running legal battles to avoid an extradition order to return to his native India and face charges of serious fraud. His team has existed with its thumb to its chin for years, and it seems time has now run out for the gregarious owner.

A buy-out is hoped for and seems most likely. But nevertheless, it’s clearly a worrying time for all involved. Then again it’s also a scenario many of the staff have experienced before.

This is the fourth life of the team in its 27 years of existence. Other owners have come and gone – some oh so briefly. But through it all, this team has survived in large part because of the quality of its staff. To borrow from football parlance, they are too good to go down. At least, we hope so.

1 Jordan 1991-2005

Ebullient Irishman Eddie Jordan had hustled his way through the junior ranks, first as a driver and then more successfully as a team owner. But surely he’d come unstuck in the Big Time – wouldn’t he? Never underestimate the power of ambition – and desperation.

That magical first season in 1991 with the bright green 7UP Jordan 191 had it all: the scrap to escape pre-qualifying, the heroic points finishes, the jail-term for Belgian hot-head Bertrand Gachot after his contretemps with a London cabbie… Then a young German called Michael Schumacher stepped in for Spa and caught everyone off guard, only for Flavio Briatore and Tom Walkinshaw to steal him for Benetton by the next race.

It never stopped at Jordan.

But for all the high drama – most of it generated by the voracious ego of the man whose name was on the door – this was a no-nonsense little team who had designed and built a great car, on the back of very little. That wouldn’t change much over the years.

Fortunes would ebb and flow, but by the late 1990s, now in bright Benson & Hedges yellow, Jordan had enough momentum to win races – first with Damon Hill at Spa in 1998, and then with Heinz-Harald Frentzen the following year. The German was even briefly a title contender in the wake of Schumacher’s leg-breaking shunt at Silverstone.

But that was as good as it would get; a long, slow decline would follow. Sure, there was a final, bizarre win at Interlagos in 2003 when Giancarlo Fisichella would be awarded victory days after the race following red-flag confusion in Brazil. But by 2005, Eddie Jordan cashed in his chips – and left F1 far richer than he’d joined it 14 years earlier.

2 Midland 2005-06

No one in F1 knew much about Russian businessman Alex Shnaider when his Midland Group bought out Eddie Jordan in 2005 – and when he sold the team on again the following year, that was still the case.

On the track, the team had slumped despite the best efforts of likeable Indian Narain Karthikeyan and Portuguese Tiago Monteiro. Yes, the team claimed a three-four at Indianapolis – but that was only after all the Michelin teams had withdrawn in the wake of safety fears, sparking what remains the most shameful episode in F1’s history (which is saying something).

For 2006, the team was renamed Midland – or officially MF1 Racing. Either way, it was a chapter as dreary as the name.

New signing Christijan Albers joined Monteiro in cars painted in suitable grey and deep orange. Despite still boasting plenty of talent, including James Key – newly signed technical director at McLaren – form slumped further. Few batted an eye when Shnaider and Midland departed.

3 Spyker 2006-07

The Dutch supercar make bought out Midland in September 2006, with owner Michiel Mol taking overall charge while retaining Colin Kolles as team principal. More inevitable livery changes followed and for 2007 another new name.

The only highlight was Markus Winkelhock’s F1 debut in his orange Spyker at the European GP at the Nürburgring. The son of the late, great Manfred Winkelhock stepped in for Albers, who had run out of money, and promptly led in a race thrown into chaos by heavy rain. Later in the season Adrian Sutil would score the team’s solitary world championship point at Fuji, by which time Mallya was already entering the scene.

For the third season running, the team would have a new name for 2008.

4 Force India 2008-present

Is it a surprise that more than 10 years after he first took charge, Mallya is still at the helm and the team remains known as Force India? Frankly, yes. But much like Eddie Jordan before him, that’s because it’s easy to underestimate this colourful and deeply controversial man.

Not known for hiding his taste for extravagance, Mallya is a proper old-fashioned mogul with interests in the brewery industry and aviation. Those who know him well appear to like him immensely, including Perez who has driven for the team since 2014.

Now pretty in the pink colours of Austrian water treatment company BWT, Perez and fresh talent Esteban Ocon continue to embarrass better known, better financed and more bloated teams (you know who they are) week in, week out.

The ride thus far has always been colourful and that’s sure to continue in this team’s fifth life, under whomever that might be. Keep your fingers crossed for everyone at Silverstone.

Photography courtesy of Motorsport Images.