Aston Martin: We’ll stay in touch with Force India

Aston Martin hasn’t ruled out a future involvement with Force India, despite no deal being concluded for 2016.

The Silverstone team had been hoping to carry Aston’s branding this season.

“We’ve kept the communications open with Force India with no commitments on either side,” the car maker’s head of global marketing and communications Simon Sproule told this writer. “We liked the team at Force India and found much in common in the way we think about engineering and racing.”

Yesterday Force India’s COO Otmar Szafnauer made it clear that there would be no deal this year: “It’s a big step, and it’s flattering that Aston Martin have been talking to us. We’re still discussing. In the short term, meaning 2016, I don’t see that type of re-branding happening. But you never know what the future holds thereafter.”

Aston’s interest in an F1 sponsorship deal became public knowledge in July, and after initial talks with Red Bull fizzled out the company talked to other teams, with Force India emerging as the most logical candidate.

Aston always insisted that any decision on a future motor sport strategy had to incorporate its sportscar racing plans. The biggest issue has always been that the company does not have the budget with which to make an impact in F1, despite the obvious appeal for both sides.