Sergio Perez reveals how he saved a failing F1 team

Sergio Perez has revealed how he put Force India into administration in order to save the team, which now competes as Aston Martin. 

The Silverstone-based team has gone through several incarnations since being launched as Jordan in 1991. Sold in early 2005 to the Midland Group, the team competed as Midland in 2006, before a further sale saw it become Spyker in 2007. In 2008, however, Indian businessman Vijay Mallya took control and rebranded the team as Force India, the name with which it continued until Perez's intervention in 2018.

This action was taken as Mallya suffered from financial and legal troubles, and saw the High Court in London place the team into administration, giving 90 days to find a new owner. 

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Perez, who drove for the team between 2014 and 2020, said: "I had no idea about law, but I was owed some money. They didn't pay my salary for the entire year. 

"We were having a bit of a delay, but then my manager told me that there was a winding-up petition from one of the suppliers that hadn't been paid. That means they can basically shut down the company, and the whole team will lose their jobs. I was like, 'wow,' and it was said, 'you can save it.' 

"We (Perez and manager Julian Jakobi) did the whole process to put the team in administration before the winding-up petition came in, because if we didn't, the team would have gone bankrupt.

"All the people, all the team [would have lost their jobs]. So at the time it was Force India, which is now Aston Martin. Aston Martin wouldn't exist. We had 90 days to find a buyer, and luckily for the team, along came Lawrence [Stroll], who ended up buying the team while we were in administration."

Under Stroll, the team initially became Racing Point, before transitioning to Aston Martin in 2021.

Detailing the tricky balancing act he was forced to manage during the period of administration, Perez added: "It was crazy because all of this was happening in the summer, actually, during race after race. So I remember, before going into the car, having a conversation with lawyers, not understanding it at all.

"I remember telling all my people around because it sounds bad, the driver is putting the team in administration. I remember talking to all of the staff at one of the races, and telling them, 'Look, I'm doing it because it's only right for everyone here. Otherwise, you guys are gonna lose everything, all your jobs and so on.' So I ended up explaining to them how it worked, and they were a lot more calm.

"I ended up trying to be the best lawyer I could be for the team, and the best driver, trying to separate when I had to jump in the car.

"You couldn't separate it at that point because it was at a stage that was very critical. So I was having meetings just before qualifying. I remember in one it was just before qualifying, like literally, with lawyers, and then I jumped in the car. And then before the race, instead of being with the engineers, I was in some other meetings, but I was there. I had to do it and have to save the team at that point as well."