Szafnauer reveals stress of 2018

Racing Point Force India principal Otmar Szafnauer has revealed that a stressful start to the 2018 season set the tone for the rest of it, a season which included the team entering administration.

The team were behind the rest of the field before the season had even begun, the team were using outdated parts from the 2017 season due to the lack of money needed for the VJM-11’s development.

Szafnauer admitted to the official F1 podcast ‘Beyond the Grid’ that the team didn’t have the car they wanted saying: “We didn't start this season with the car we wanted to because we didn't have the funding to produce the parts.

"We produced a car for winter testing, a launch car, that we wanted to upgrade with the first race car, the Melbourne car," he added.

"So we started the season with the car we produced for winter testing, which is never your best car. We couldn't change it until well into the season, and the performances showed.

"For me personally, [it was] probably the most stressful year.”

He also described the financial state as "significantly parlous" and it led to a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll buying the team after driver Sergio Perez applied to the courts to place the team into administration.