Mallya: “The name Force India is too geographically restrictive”
Vijay Mallya attended his one and only Grand Prix of the year at Silverstone. It was an opportunity for him to take stock of the situation of Sahara Force India and its future.
If he remains the owner of the team, Vijay Mallya is no longer able to follow Sahara Force India at all Grand Prix since his legal troubles with the Indian justice system have led to him being stripped of his passport, preventing him from leaving the country.
The businessman can only be satisfied with the start of the season which sees the team in fourth position. He even believes that the team may have missed its chance to compete for a podium spot in the Constructors’ Championship: « I think there were two races (after Montreal), Red Bull was looking over its shoulder. Obviously, in Baku, we shot ourselves in the foot and they took full advantage of it. But I’m not giving up, the season is still long. »
We can therefore see that the Baku episode, where the two team drivers collided, is still on everyone’s minds within the team and that it must not happen again in the future: « What happened in Baku is clearly a big loss for the team. Without that, there was almost a podium for us. It is unacceptable for the two cars to crash into each other. I don’t think it was due to anger or that it was intentional. It was just in the heat of the moment and an error in judgment. It’s part of motorsport. We have spoken to both drivers. » Vijay Mallya is therefore pleased to see rivalry between Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez as long as the results are there at the end of the race.
The other important topic in the team’s news is the very name of the team. Since the Sahara name has almost disappeared from the team’s communication after Subrata Roy, the other co-owner of the team, was sent to prison by the Indian authorities, numerous reports have leaked about the recent filing of many companies by a lawyer close to the team.
Vijay Mallya thus confirmed that intense internal discussions are currently taking place to change the name. However, he was keen to make it known that excluding the word “India” from the name was not a sanction against his home country but to target a larger audience: « Today, the name Force India is too geographically restrictive. When I created the team 10 years ago, I wanted to inspire the imagination of millions of Indians who are motorsport fans. » But beyond this imagination, it was also about pushing for a Grand Prix in India and attracting local companies to the team.
However, these Indian sponsors are still awaited as they prefer to invest in cricket, by far the most popular sport in the Indian subcontinent: « It is imperative to realize that our sponsor acquisitions must be more global. If the team’s name is restrictive, which is the case with Force India, then we have a disadvantage. So yes, I can confirm that we are working on it, but I can’t tell you when because, even I, I don’t know. » Nevertheless, in order not to dilute the brand image built with the current name, the idea is to keep the word “Force” and only remove “India” and replace it with the name of a potential new title sponsor.
But Vijay Mallya has no intention of selling his team as he is finally enjoying a team in top sporting form, after very complicated beginnings (the team didn’t score any points in its first season, in 2008). However, one of his main concerns remains the distribution of F1 revenues, which are governed by the Concorde Agreements, expiring in 2020. He is determined to continue being involved in the sport when the redistribution becomes more equitable to obtain a return on his investments.
With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr
