Force India's Testing Issues

So, it sounds as if things are getting worse for Force India - Fernley, the Deputy Team Principle, has now admitted that Force India are only "hopeful" that they'll make it to the start of the final test with their 2015 car.

As for the reasons why, Fernley has publicly placed part of the blame onto Caterham and Marussia - he has claimed that Toyota blocked Force India's access to their wind tunnel due to contractual issues with Caterham, whilst also claiming that the collapse of Marussia and Caterham caused Force India's suppliers to change their payment policies and demand payment up front.
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2015/02/force-india-says-car-delays-and-missed-tests-caused-in-part-by-collapse-of-caterham-and-marussia/

Some other sources, however, such as Auto Motor und Sport, have been suggesting that the actual reason why Force India are having to pay up front is because they've had their credit lines revoked by their suppliers for a lack of payment. Either way, it sounds as if Force India are in deep trouble at the moment if the car is so late in development.

The last thing we need is for another team to go under. I know they blocked Manor's entry, but we can't allow F1 to drop to 16 cars. That'd be a smaller grid than even Champ Car had in it's final years, and it had a pretty small grid (16-17 cars).

Frogfoot9013 wrote:The last thing we need is for another team to go under. I know they blocked Manor's entry, but we can't allow F1 to drop to 16 cars. That'd be a smaller grid than even Champ Car had in it's final years, and it had a pretty small grid (16-17 cars).

The thing is, Force India are being crucified for voicing the opinion that several other teams had already taken - Marko has confirmed that Red Bull would not have supported Marussia's application either, and in fact it is rumoured that only Ferrari and Mercedes actually spoke in favour of Marussia in the SWG's meeting.

Furthermore, it would be a shame to see a team that has tended to punch above its weight being run into the ground - mind you, given the problems that have surrounded the owners of the team, it has been something of a matter of time before the team really began to hit problems.