Force India sued over pink sponsor deal

Although boss Vijay Mallya is happy with his pink-coloured cars in 2017, the sponsorship deal has landed Force India in legal trouble.

Bild am Sonntag newspaper reports that an agency is claiming a commission for the EUR 12.5-15 million deal with Austrian water company BWT.

"At the end of the day, I find the colour quite attractive," Mallya said at Silverstone.

Less attractive is the prospect of being sued.

"It is clear from the complaint that while there was no contract signed by Force India, there was a written commitment," the German newspaper report claimed.

It is a rare paddock visit for Mallya this weekend, as his dispute with Indian authorities resulted in his passport being seized.

"I certainly miss races like Monaco and Singapore," said the former Indian billionaire. "But I had that for eight and half years.

"Now I’m back in the office, but that’s also important."

Mallya has denied that the Indian dispute is why the team is likely to drop the word ’India’ from its name for 2018.