‘Force India’ vanishes from F-1
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 1
The inevitable has happened. The new owners of the Force India F1 team, who saved the team from going into administration, have renamed it as Racing Point F1.
The publication of the entry list for next year’s F1 calendar confirmed this development. This means that Force India will not be part of the starting grid for the coming season, a first in 11 years. The chassis name was disclosed as Racing Point, while the company is listed as Racing Point UK Limited.
Only such name
Force India, which was the only F1 team named a country, was given this name 2008 after Vijay Mallya and his Dutch partner Michel Mol bought Spyker F1 team for $90 million.
The latest name change was in the offing after Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll took over the reins of the team in August this year. Interestingly, the cars were put on the grid as Racing Point Force India team for the second part of the 2018 calendar. This was done to distinguish the team from the now defunct Sahara Force India.
Also, driver Sergio Perez will team up with the new owner’s son, Lance Stroll, for the 2019 season.
Strangely, the ‘Indian’ team on the grid operated from Silverstone in the United Kingdom and failed to give a seat to India’s two leading drivers, Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok, during their competitive years.
Akbar Ebrahim, former president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, explained it as the decisions taken by private entities. “They are private entities and it is their decision (to change name). Force India’s shareholding was with Mr Mallya, Sahara and with the Mol family. I really don’t to know the real ownership today. And again I couldn’t say it was an Indian team,” Ebrahim told The Tribune on Saturday.
“Basically, the promoters of the team were Indians. The major stakeholders were Indians, so to that extent there was an Indian presence,” he added. “And it was always good to have an Indian presence in Formula 1. There is the name change for sure but I don’t know whether the existing shareholders are still shareholders or whether the controlling shareholders have sold the stakes to somebody else.”
Unpaid bills, wages
The team was put into administration in July after lack of funding from the team owners, Mallya and Sahara. At the time, the team owed $28.5 million to over 400 creditors, including hotels and engine supplier Mercedes. It also owed $4million to driver Perez. The team’s outstanding wages stood at $2.2 million for July 2018.
