Force India musing two options for name change

Force India has written up a short-list of potential new team names for the 2018 season and beyond.

Keen to attract more international sponsors, and amid his legal troubles with Indian authorities, owner Vijay Mallya is determined to drop the word ’India’ from his Silverstone-based team’s name at the end of this year.

"Name changes should be rare, so whatever decision we make, the new name should remain for at least the next ten years," said the former Indian billionaire.

"We have discussed the situation internally and proposed to call it Force One. We checked to see if the name was used by anyone, so we immediately filed some registrations.

"But the decision is still pending as there is a new proposal — Force Racing," Mallya added.

"We are negotiating with partners, with sponsors, so we will think it through thoroughly and then decide."

Meanwhile, although Sergio Perez’s place in the team is up for grabs for 2018, Mallya said he is very happy to have his young teammate Esteban Ocon already under contract.

"Esteban will get better and better as he gets experience," he said.

"With the talent that he has, I am very pleased that we signed a multi-year contract with him," added Mallya.