Formula 1: Force India might be rebranded to Force One

Following earlier reports that speculated an upcoming name change for Force India, the Formula 1 team is reported to have taken some steps in this direction with an official announcement appearing to be just around the corner. It is being reported that the owners have decided to rebrand the team as Force One, as an attempt attract more international sponsors.

Some documents reveal that a slew of companies have been registered on May 31st and June 6th. These company names include Force One Grand Prix, Force One Racing, Force One Team, Force One Technologies, Force One Hospitality and Force One Brand. All these new companies have a single director - Dr. Thiruvannamalai Laskshimi Kanthan, who is an accountant and financial consultant by profession and has been a long-time associate of Force India's co-owner - Vijay Mallya. He also serves as the current director of the Force India F1 team along with three other companies associated with it.

The company registrations have been made prior to the approval in order to protect the name from any trademarks of copyrights in the future. However, before the Force India team is rebranded to Force One, it will need to get the required permissions from the FIA and the F1 commission. Erstwhile Formula 1 boss, Bernie Ecclestone, never favoured name changes for participating teams as he believed that each team's name has its specific identity and changing a name strips the team of that particular identity and image. However, with Formula 1 now being run under new owners - Liberty Media, Force India officials appear to be confident of getting an approval of a name change in the near future.

Source: Motorsports