Wind tunnel Aerolab's boss Jean-Claude Migeot talked about the legal action taken by the Force India Formula 1 team against rival Lotus.
On June 2nd, Force India confirmed it has instigated legal action in Great Britain against rival F1 team Lotus.
In a media statement, the Silverstone based team Force India then said the Malaysian-backed team's technical boss Mike Gascoyne and Italian wind tunnel Aerolab are also being sued.
It has been reported that Force India claims a wind tunnel model of its 2009 car left in the Aerolab facility was used as the basis for Lotus' current T127 racer.
Before working with Lotus, Mike Gascoyne also worked alongside Aerolab with Force India.
In an interview with France's Auto Hebdo, Aerolab's boss Jean-Claude Migeot guaranteed that the there's been no transfer of technology whatsoever between the two rival teams.
"First of all, Force India owed us more than $1 euros in August 2009," Migeot said.
"In September, we asked the Italian justice to cease the Force India data and material that was left in our offices."
Migeot continued: "The problem started with a photo of the Lotus T127 model taken in our wind tunnel on October 3, 2009 and posted on the Lotus web site a week later."
"Lotus did not have Bridgestone tires back then. To do this photo that Mike Gascoyne was requesting badly, we removed the four half-size wheels off the Force India model car and put them on the Lotus model for the purpose of the photo. When the picture was published, Force India believed that the T127 was a carbon copy of their model car. There are no parts that are the same, and the intellectual property of Force India has been used at all in the Lotus project," Migeot detailed.
On June 2nd, Force India confirmed it has instigated legal action in Great Britain against rival F1 team Lotus.
In a media statement, the Silverstone based team Force India then said the Malaysian-backed team's technical boss Mike Gascoyne and Italian wind tunnel Aerolab are also being sued.
It has been reported that Force India claims a wind tunnel model of its 2009 car left in the Aerolab facility was used as the basis for Lotus' current T127 racer.
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| The infamous photo of the Lotus T127 model car. (Photo: Lotus Racing) |
Before working with Lotus, Mike Gascoyne also worked alongside Aerolab with Force India.
In an interview with France's Auto Hebdo, Aerolab's boss Jean-Claude Migeot guaranteed that the there's been no transfer of technology whatsoever between the two rival teams.
"First of all, Force India owed us more than $1 euros in August 2009," Migeot said.
"In September, we asked the Italian justice to cease the Force India data and material that was left in our offices."
Migeot continued: "The problem started with a photo of the Lotus T127 model taken in our wind tunnel on October 3, 2009 and posted on the Lotus web site a week later."
"Lotus did not have Bridgestone tires back then. To do this photo that Mike Gascoyne was requesting badly, we removed the four half-size wheels off the Force India model car and put them on the Lotus model for the purpose of the photo. When the picture was published, Force India believed that the T127 was a carbon copy of their model car. There are no parts that are the same, and the intellectual property of Force India has been used at all in the Lotus project," Migeot detailed.