Force India was a Formula 1 team that competed in the series from 2008 to 2018, known for its pink and blue colors. Over the years, it featured familiar names like Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll or Esteban Ocon.

Even with a smaller budget than many competitors, Force India regularly performed well and secured several podium finishes. However, financial problems led to its closure, and it was later purchased by Lawrence Stroll and renamed as Racing Point, eventually becoming Aston Martin in 2021.

Force India’s former Team Principal, Otmar Szafnauer left the rebranded team in early 2022 to join Alpine. However, he has now disclosed that during Force India's financial struggles, he decided to cover the salaries of the entire team to ensure that the roughly 400 employees received their payments on time.

"Twice, but it wasn't that much," Szafnauer said on the High Performance podcast.

"It was in the millions and I paid it with the help of my partner at Soft Pauer.

“We had money in the business. I had my own money, and I knew the salaries were not going to get paid, and I knew how difficult that is for people.

“Some people live paycheck to paycheck, and I understand it.

“We had to pay the salaries, and the Formula 1 money was coming in five days’ time. So say the salaries are due on a Friday, and we’re getting the Formula 1 money the following Wednesday.

“So I could have waited, not paid on Friday, or paid with my own money and then waited until Wednesday to get that money back from when the Formula 1 money came."

Szafnauer left Alpine in July 2023 and has not made a return to Formula 1 since. His only involvement has been with Andretti Global's F1 project, which has ultimately been unsuccessful.