F1 Sponsors Pushing for Force India Name Change

It has long been speculated that the Sahara Force India team would be undergoing a name change. According to most sources, their F1 sponsors had been pushing the team to change its name. In fact, Team owner Vijay Mallya revealed in June 2017 that he was contemplating the same.

His idea was to drop ‘India’ from its name. The sole purpose was to attract more sponsors and not be “psychologically limited”. One of the favourites was ‘Force One’, but it was later dropped last November. Team COO Otmar Szafnauer admitted that it could be too easily shortened down to ‘F1’ and lead to confusion.

Although the 2018 entry list officially reads ‘Sahara Force India F1 Team’, The team’s F1 sponsors are calling for a name change. Szafnauer said,  “Yes, a couple of potential sponsors said that if we don’t change, then we don’t come on board [with you]. I don’t know [why?]. But I think, maybe those sponsors wanted a more global approach to what they are doing, [and] not being tied down to one country. So, they just thought if they are going to sponsor a team, they will sponsor a team which is not really tied to one country.”

He was asked if the word ‘Force’ could be dropped from the name. To that end he was unsure and that they had not decided anything yet. Regarding the whole issue of nomenclature, it is all up in the air. The team has been performing well and have established themselves as the 4th fastest team behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. It is impressive considering the humble Jordan ashes that the team was born out of. From a midfield team, Force India have slowly and surely improved even bagging a few podiums and a pole position in its career.