Almost a month ago, documents were lodged to create several new UK companies which is thought to be the first steps of rebranding the current Formula One team, Force India.
The names Force One Grand Prix, Force One Racing, Force One Team, Force One Technologies, Force One Hospitality, and Force One Brand were listed with Dr Thiruvannamalai Laskshimi Kanthan, who has had ties to Force India's current team boss, Dr Vijay Mallya and is currently the Director of Force India, listed as the new companies sole Director.
Motorsport.com claim that the reasons behind the name change stem from the team wanting to get away from the ‘India' heritage so that they may be able to attract new sponsors, as the Indian sponsors that were on board have disappeared along with the country's GP.
“You don't change your name every other year, so we've got to think about it deeply and philosophically, and make sure if we do it, it's going to be there for a long time. The one reason Bernie didn't like name changes all the time is that a team over time gets an identity and everyone knows who it I,” Motorsport.com quotes COO Otmar Szafnauer as saying. “We've been Force India for 10 years now, if we do change, it should last another 10 years or 20 years so people get to know what it is.
“If we choose a name that's closely linked to Force India but not Force India that might even be an easier step forward.”
“For a name and chassis change we need approval from some of the rest. I don't think it's all, but it's got to go through the F1 Commission. If the FIA and commercial rights holder and some of the teams say ‘yes,' then we can have a name change. I think there's a spirit of co-operation in that regard. We voted for Brawn to go to Mercedes, and I would hope they would reciprocate.”
