Mallya happy with performance as he returns trackside
Force India team founder and owner Vijay Mallya made an appearance in the Silverstone paddock over the weekend to support his team in the fight with Williams for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. It is the first visit of the Indian this year after he faced legal issues in his home country.
Mallya, who has worked as politician and businessman his entire life, got in trouble earlier this year. He was charged of not paying the loans of his company back to Indian banks. The court took an immediate action, but Mallya had left the country by that time and travelled to his county estate near London.
The court issued a non-bailable warrant for Mallya’s arrest, but he remained in England. His lawyers have been working on the issue since then.
As the Indian could not leave England since March, he has not attended any F1 races since then. Mallya could finally make an appearance in his team’s home race. He did not want to comment the matter and just intended to concentrate on race action.
“Today’s race was extremely entertaining and I am very happy with our team performance,” started Mallya.
“It’s our best ever result at Silverstone and we are now just 19 points adrift of fourth place in the championship.”
Mallya was happy with his drivers who collected a total amount of 14 points which helps the team to get closer to Williams.
“It wasn’t an easy race by any means, especially with the track drying out so quickly in some places and remaining damp in others. Nico and Checo were both in the thick of the action all afternoon and did a splendid job to bring home 14 important points.”
The Indian is hopeful that his team can lift its competitiveness even more in coming races, even though that will likely have to happen without him present at the track.
“We’ve shown today just how competitive we can be on one of the most demanding high-speed tracks of the year and I think there is even more potential to come in the second half of the season.”
Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg finished the British Grand Prix in 6th and 7th positions respectively.
