Force India F1 Team

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Vijay Mallya's Force India's Formula One team has been on London, Friday, deputy head Bob Fernley said.

"An administrator was appointed by the court for Force India F1 this evening," he confirmed to Reuters.

The team's chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer told reporters earlier that the team might have entered a financial footing.

Force India are currently in Budapest and will continue to prepare for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race before the August break.

A source close to the matter told by Sergio Perez, who was owed more than $ 4 million to the British-based team.

Mercedes engine supplier was due some 13 million euros ($ 15.15 million), the same source added, with leading BWT sponsor also involved.

There was no immediate comment from the team on the details of the case.

The Companies Court had named Force India on a winding-up list of companies, published on the justice.gov.uk website, scheduled for hearings at the London High Court last Wednesday, July 25.

"Within a week or at the most two, "Szafnauer said earlier on Friday.

The motorsportweek.com website suggests a 'pre-pack' agreement might have been made with the business and badets negotiated before the appointment of administrators and the change of ownership following shortly after.

Sources close to the team indicated that they were interested.

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There has been speculation within Formula One that Lawrence Stroll, the billionaire father of Canadian driver Lance, is willing to invest in Force India as part of a move for his son from Williams.

Stroll has not commented on the reports.

Another likely contender is Russian fertilizer billionaire Dmitry Mazepin, whose Nikita competes in the GP3 support series and is a development driver for Force India.

Szafnauer earlier said he would not know what the outcome would be, but it would be one of two potential ways out and "whichever road it is, I think the team will be fine. More than fine, actually ".

Perez had described the situation as 'critical' on Thursday, recognizing that his own future would remain uncertain.

Szafnauer used similar language on Friday.

"We are just in this critical period, which might last a week or two. "We have to keep our heads down," he said, "go after our break, after the test, and then come back fighting thereafter," he said.

Force India's problems are well-documented, with co-owner and principal Mallya fighting an attempt by India to extradite him from Britain to face charges of fraud, which he denies.

A group of Indian banks are seeking to recover more than $ 1 billion of loans granted to its defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya has decried a "political witchhunt" and has said it worth $ 139 billion rupees ($ 2.03 billion) to repay creditors.

($ 1 = 68.58 Indian Rupees)

($ 1 = 0.8579 euros)