Force India: Fernley explains the reasons for rejecting Marussia’s request
After the rejection of Marussia's request by the Strategy Group, Robert Fernley, one of the leaders of Force India, wanted to explain to the press following his team's negative vote.
Force India’s decision to vote against allowing Marussia/Manor to run their 2014 car in 2015, during the last Strategy Group meeting, was heavily criticized by some observers of the sport, particularly on social media.
Robert Fernley, the deputy director of the Indian team, reflected on this decision, attempting to explain the justifications. « One must remember that people react on an emotional basis without any facts. At the end of the day, I have to make decisions with my reason and not with my heart, and I cannot shy away from decisions just because I’m afraid of a popularity contest on Twitter. »
The Briton claims that the lack of information surrounding the takeover of Marussia was a decisive factor in this refusal: “Not a single document was provided. We don’t even know who the owners are. It wasn’t difficult… There wasn’t the slightest crumb of information other than the paragraph requesting that Marussia be allowed to run the 2014 car in 2015. You can’t make a decision on that, so it was a very poor demonstration from Marussia.”
« If I thought it was my last chance, I would have made a presentation with all the ins and outs, and everything I can think of to convince everyone, » he added to Press Association Sport. « Do I feel bad? Yes, really bad, because Force India fought tooth and nail for all the small teams. »
If he acknowledges that the financial aspect – the redistribution of gains won by the Marussia team thanks to its ninth place – should not be overlooked, he assures that Force India’s vote is based solely on the quality of the presented case: « It must be said that there is some truth in that, but is that the reason behind the decision? No. Will I appreciate an additional 4 or 5 million dollars? Yes, certainly, but it had no impact on the decision. With all due respect, these 4 or 5 million will make no difference in the survival of Force India. Obviously, in absolute terms, it helps and we will be happy to have them, but that is not the goal. »
The key element is that you must produce a credible presentation and tell people who the owners are, how you are going to manage things, when you are going to produce a car for 2015… The responsibility lies with Marussia to formulate a proposal that will satisfy the FIA, the commercial rights holders, and the teams. They must show that they are capable of running a car for 2015 because they are asking for a huge exemption to use a 2014 car, he concluded.
