Formtech Composites complains about the behavior of HRT
The defunct team is said to have been transferred to a fund in Luxembourg, which could result in significant financial losses for suppliers who are still unpaid, including Formtech Composites.
The bankruptcy of HRT is likely to cost its suppliers dearly. Formtech Composites, for example, risks receiving only a tiny fraction of what the team owed it for its services. Formtech Composites is a specialist in carbon solutions, with numerous clients in Formula 1. Having previously worked for the now-defunct Super Aguri and Arrows, the British company is now a supplier for Lotus, McLaren, Force India, and thus HRT.
She publicly criticizes the latter because its leaders allegedly implemented a strategy of concealment to minimize fund outflows in the context of the liquidation of the bottom-ranked company on the list. Indeed, Formtech Composites signed an agreement on November 15th, according to which HRT had settled 25% of the outstanding invoices, leaving a large sum still to be paid.
However, a week later, HRT reportedly informed all its suppliers that the financial conditions had changed and that the team was now owned by a Luxembourg fund, further complicating the search for the missing funds. In the statement sent by HRT, it was announced that the bankruptcy procedure had begun as early as November 12, which was the day of the announcement of its sale by Thesan Capital and therefore three days before the agreement made with Formtech Composites.
According to the new conditions imposed by HRT, only 30% of the outstanding invoices owed to all suppliers would be honored, with no room for negotiation on this total amount. This has consequently triggered a race among the different suppliers to minimize the financial losses associated with their involvement in the Spanish project. Formtech Composites does not recognize this shareholder change and will therefore conduct an in-depth investigation into the shareholding of HRT and Thesan Capital in an effort to recover its funds.
This is not the first time an HRT supplier has publicly disclosed its unpaid bills. As early as 2010, Toyota decided to end its collaboration with HRT for this reason: « Toyota Motorsport GmbH regrets that HRT did not fulfill its contractual payment obligations and will pursue all possible options to achieve satisfaction in this matter. TMG confirms that all cooperation with HRT is terminated and will not resume. TMG retains full intellectual property rights to its current F1 car and is completely free to pursue other projects and support new clients for its high-performance engineering services. »
This new episode comes just a few days after we learned that the employees returning from Brazil were only able to retrieve their personal belongings at the Madrid factory after agreeing to sign a termination agreement. An ungraceful way to end an adventure that lasted three seasons…
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
