30/09/2016
NEWS STORY
Force India's Bob Fernley has confirmed that the European Commission's investigation into F1 continues.
The investigation, which centres on what are alleged to be a number of anti-competitive practices in the sport, including the distribution of prize money, follows an official complaint lodged by Force India and Sauber a year ago.
Speaking in Malaysia today, just weeks after Liberty Media began the process of buying the sport, and at a time the European Commission is already looking to investigate the FIA's 1% shareholding in the sport and whether this represents a conflict of interest, deputy team principal at Force India, Bob Fernley confirmed that the original investigation is on-going.
"We have put the complaint, that's common knowledge, I think about a year ago," he told reporters, "it has gone through due process and I can confirm it has gone to next level in terms of a request for further information from the EU.
"Who those have been sent to, I don't know," he continued. "From our point of view, because we're in legal process with them, we can't say anything about what we're doing, but I can confirm it is at that stage from an EU point of view.
Asked if a similar action might be taken in the United States, he replied: "It's not appropriate for us to discuss something where we're getting legal advice. It's probably a bit speculative, but for sure everything is still on the table from our side.
"We are very, very committed to challenging what we believe is a very anti-competitive system with these bi-lateral agreements," he added. "Whatever it takes to deliver that, we will certainly look at."