Mike Gascoyne, the former chief technical officer of Force India has reportedly initiated legal action against the Vijay Mallya-owned team seeking compensation to the tune of $2.5 million following his exit from the team last year.
According to Autosport, Gascoyne has “lodged legal paperwork in London’s High Court for damages caused by his dismissal.” He is also seeking a portion of $5million he would have been paid had he opted to extend the contract.
When contacted, Dr Vijay Mallya admitted that Gascoyne had sued Force India F1 for unfair dismissal. “We expected this. Our legal advisors have said that we have a strong case to defend our actions,” he told DNA.
It may be recalled that the 45-year-old Gascoyne, who was contracted for two years with the team in 2008, was shown the door following Force India’s high-profile deal with McLaren for the 2009 season. With this development, it is now clear that the bitterness between Gascoyne and the team management has come out in the open.
Even during his role as the chief technical officer, Gascoyne was at odds with the team management on the manner in which the team was shaping up. Force India had a disappointing debut in 2008 when it failed to score even a single point.
Gascoyne was one of the high-profile personalities to join the Indian outfit in 2008. Earlier, Gascoyne was the technical director at Jordan in 1998 and 1999 and occupied the same position with Benetton/Renault in the early 2000s. He created a sensation when with Toyota, he became one of the highest paid technical personnel in the sport.
