Why Fifi did not fancy Le Mans…

When Force India jumped off the FOTA ship and signed up for an unconditional entry to next year’s F1 World Championship, the reason given by the team was that if they did not, they would get it in the ear… from their bankers, sponsors and lawyers.

This may not have been the only reason, as our source reveals that Vijay Mallya, while initially interested in Luca di Montezemolo’s suggestion that the teams could all leave F1 and go to race at Le Mans, soon went off the idea when he realised doing this would not give him any chance next year to show off on his mega-yacht, the Indian Empress.

With Le Mans being 140 miles from the sea, the only place near the track to park the boat is a small lake at nearby Sille le Guillaume. The lake is not connected to any major river which makes getting the Empress to it tricky.

Mallya had considered constructing a canal from the sea to the lake before he realised that the construction of major waterways are not included in the budget proposals put forward by the FIA – so F1 it had to be..

Tags: FIA, Force India, FOTA, Indian Empress, Le Mans, Luca di Montezemolo, Vijay Mallya

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