10/02/2015
NEWS STORY
Force India's Bob Fernley has said the delay to the team's 2015 contender is partly due to the failures of rivals Caterham and Marussia.
The Silverstone-based outfit has already said that the VJM80 is unlikely to run until the second of the forthcoming Barcelona tests, if then.
However, amidst media speculation that the delay is due to various parts of the car not being ready due to financial issues, deputy team principal Fernley says that part of the reason is the collapse of Caterham and Marussia.
"As you know we've recently started working with Toyota's wind tunnel at their facility in Cologne," he told the Press Association, referring to the deal to use Toyota’s facility announced on 4 December. "However, the Toyota people had agreements with Caterham, and quite rightly until they could resolve their issues we could not move in with our contract. We didn't get the go-ahead until early December, so we were behind schedule before we had even started.
"On top of that we've had a few issues with suppliers because they've obviously been hurt very badly by the Marussia and Caterham demises," he added. "They wanted payments up front which hurt us cash-flow wise.
"I don't blame the suppliers at all," he continued." I would do exactly the same if my financial position had been hurt very badly. But it hasn't helped us and has meant we've had a few slow downs in different areas."
Fernley, who last week blocked Manor's (Marussia) plan to return to the grid, albeit with a 20104 car, insists that Force India will contest the final pre-season test - which starts just four days after the previous one ends - believes the VJM08 will be ready.
"Is it perfect? No it isn't, but will we get through? Yes, we will. It is only cash flow at the end of the day. It's not that the budget isn't there, which is the same thing every year. Normally we can get through by working with the suppliers, but this year we couldn't do that, so it has slowed us down a little."