Etihad, Aldar to Pay $4.6M in Damages to Force India

Before deciding what to do in the spy-saga that we've told you about yesterday, Force India were happy to find out that their account will be added with approximately $4.6 million in the next few weeks, courtesy of Etihad Airways and Aldar Properties.

And it's not like this isn't Force India's money to begin with, as they were initially entitled to a 3-year partnership with Etihad Aldar since the moment they set foot in Formula One. The aforementioned company had just inked a 3-year contract with Force India's former guise Spyker F1, but decided to unilaterally terminate the deal in 2008.

“The deal was brokered by Jamie Cunningham, now one of the Middle East’s leading sponsorship agents. Bonus clauses were also incorporated in the deal which meant the team could earn $100,000 for each championship point it scored and $500,000 for each place in the overall championship. The cost of the sponsorship was split 60 per cent for Etihad and 40 per cent for Aldar,” said a report showed by the arabianbusiness.com.

So they moved to Ferrari soon after deciding to end their partnership with Force India F1, argued by the new change of ownership. They claimed that Vijay Mallya's airline company Kingfisher sponsoring the outfit was in conflict with their ongoing agreement.

Yesterday, however, a High Court judge decided that Etihad Aldar wrongfully terminated their contract with Force India and will now have to pay the aforementioned sum of money as a compensatory measure. In addition, the company may also be forced to pay the costs of the legal procedures that lasted for more than a year, around $1 million extra.