OTMAR SZAFNAUER REVEALS HOW TOTO WOLFF HELPED CREATE FORCE INDIA'S FAMOUS PINK F1 ERA

Force India's iconic pink livery nearly belonged to Mercedes. BWT approached the Silver Arrows first with a sponsorship proposal that would have turned the reigning champions pink, but the Mercedes board shut it down. Toto Wolff, rather than let a lucrative sponsor walk away from the sport entirely, sent BWT to Otmar Szafnauer at Force India.

BWT CEO Andreas Weissenbacher had chosen pink after noticing every rival water filtration company at a Frankfurt trade show used blue branding. Szafnauer rolled the dice hard—he painted the cars pink for Melbourne before BWT had even signed the contract or transferred a dollar. If the deal fell through, team owner Vijay Mallya would have found pink cars stripped of the Indian flag and no money to show for it. BWT paid up, and F1's most distinctive livery was born—proof a midfield team can punch above its weight in the sponsor market.