Force India thinks August closures to increase costs

F1's other non-FOTA team has backed Williams in claiming the current two-week factory closures will not reduce costs.

Williams' chief executive Adam Parr said recently the Grove based team will never again support initiatives to close factories because it will only lead to the need for a more intensive period at some other point.

Force India's team manager Andy Stevenson said an initial proposal was for a four-week factory shutdown.

"When it was four weeks you could possibly see that there were some cost savings to be made, because you're shutting down big factories," he said.

"I personally feel that the savings now will be pretty minimal, and possibly it will increase the costs because you have to step up production before and after the shutdown," he added.

Stevenson said one additional cost of the shutdown is the need to pay overtime on either side of the break, which for Force India is currently in effect.

"We'll save a bit of money because the factory is closed, but we'll have to spend a bit of money, so I think it will balance out," he added.