SILVERSTONE - Force India operations director Otmar Szafnauer admitted that his team is currently under pressure over their plans to change names.
Currently the team owner, Vijay Mallya, is trying to get out of the legal issues he faces with the Indian government. Since then he has insisted on removing India from his team name. The goal is to make it easier to attract sponsors globally.
Name, Force One was chosen to replace the name Force India. However, it was a violent opposition from Liberty Media. Because the name can be shortened to F1. On the other hand the name is also not approved because there are third parties who also register it.
Despite having difficulty finding new names for his team, Szafnauer believes sponsors do want the Indian word to be eliminated from the team name.
"Yes, some potential sponsors have said that if the name of Force India does not change, then they will not partner with the team," explained Szafnauer, as reported by Sportsmole on Sunday (7/1/2018).
"I think if they want to really sponsor a team, maybe they will give their help to a team that is really not tied to one country. We have not decided yet, so it's very difficult to say, "he continued.
"In addition to the name, we have also set up an enhanced car. We will provide the latest version of our pink car livery for the 2018 season. We will adapt it to the sponsorship deal with the BWT company in Austria, "he said.
As is known, F1 2018 season is scheduled on March 25, 2018 with the Grand Prix (GP) Australia as opening races.
(lsk)