Force India administrators sued by Mazepin company Uralkali

The Force India saga isn’t quite over yet, as the sale of the company is now being questioned by rival bidders Uralkali, a company owned Dmitry Mazepin, father of GP3 driver Nikita Mazepin.

Force India was brought out of administration by a Lawrence Stroll led consortium, after which the team had to undergo a host of other upheavals as well before being eligible to compete in Formula 1. The team name was changed to Racing Point Force India and was docked of all its accumulated points in the ongoing season.

Uralkali is now challenging the team’s sale to the Lawrence Stroll consortium in the High court of London, with Uralkali’s claim being that the team was sold to Stroll despite them having an inferior bid.

Mazepin-linked Uralkali claims it’s suing Force India administrators #F1 https://t.co/ktJTonb4T2

— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) September 27, 2018

“Despite Uralkali’s generous offer for the business and assets, which we believe was the best bid on the table, the administrators chose to enter into an exclusivity arrangement with another bidder and subsequently refused to reengage with Uralkali,” the Uralkali statement read as quoted by RaceFans.

The FRP advisory went ahead with the terms presented by the Stroll led consortium, despite Uralklai offering more money, something that could have helped shareholders, creditors and other stakeholders extract a lot more in terms of the deal.

Uralkali has lodged a complaint regarding the lack of transparency and fair judgement in the process of reinstating the team.

FRP though have responded by saying that the entire process was carried out with utmost attention and transparency, dismissing all allegations laid out against them

“The Joint Administrators to Force India Formula One Team Limited note that Uralkali issued a press release this morning detailing how a claim has been issued against us in High Court in London. No such claim has been received by us or, as far as we are aware, by the Court. If a claim is issued it will be defended vigorously.

“We have fulfilled our statutory duties as administrators throughout this process and ultimately achieved a very successful outcome for all stakeholders. Any legal action brought against us will be defended vigorously, and we are confident it would be dismissed.” the FRP said, as quoted by RaceFans.