Reuters: LONDON 28/06/2017 (Credit Alan Baldwin)
Vijay Mallya, who is being pursued by Indian authorities over unpaid loans tied to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, has taken steps that could see India disappear from the name of his Formula One team.
Listings at Companies House showed six businesses were registered to a London address on May 31 and June 6 using the Force One name.
A hack of Mallya’s Twitter account last December revealed the same address, a terrace of mansions overlooking Regents Park, as his London residence.
The only named official for the companies — Force One Grand Prix, Force One Racing, Force One Team, Force One Technology, Force One Hospitality and Force One Brand — was Force India director Thiruvannamalai Ventkatesan Lakshmi Kanthan. (Ed. CLICK HERE for Companies House info)
Thiruvannamalai Venkatesan Lakshmi Kanthan become a member of Kingfisher Airlines (UK) Limited company’s Management Board on 2008
Kanthan is also sole director of Force One Consultancy, a company set up on June 2.
Mallya was quoted on June 14 as saying he was considering changing the name of the Silverstone-based team to make it more attractive to potential sponsors and give it more of an “international flavour”.
“There are some people who believe the current name Force India is restrictive psychologically,” he told Motorsport.com.
“I’m considering along with the other shareholders what steps to take but it’s a major decision and one that is not going to be taken in a hurry without due consideration.”
India has accused Mallya of fraud and is seeking the 61-year-old’s extradition after he fled to Britain in March last year.
#SteveBarbyF1
Opportunity missed!
If Vijay had been a TJ fan a coupla years back he would have seen the perfect suggestion from a contributor (not me).
Forced Labour 🙂
The desired “international flavour” would surely have come through significant new investment by supportive governments from around the globe like Russia and China 😉
More likely the prelude to selling the team or at least putting it up for sale.
I was thinking exactly that.But wont Mallya need to be on the board first before it can be changed ?
That’s a question for a corporate lawyer. The other principal owner (Subrata Roy) is in jail in India, so I doubt he can be on the board. Maybe the Dutch minority owner Michiel Mol buys them out, though I suspect they are all looking to unload the team.
Fun fact: Michiel Mol bragged in the Dutch press about the cars being named VM – according to him that stands for “Viyai Michiel”
Very clever use of the name to couple it with F1, which is what it can quite easily be abbreviated to!
If this is the name they will be using, it will be very interesting to see what happens when people start using an abbreviated moniker such as F-ONE GP, F1 Team, F1-GP or F1 Tech when they speak or write about the team.
Use of those abbreviations will most certainly be covered in FOM’s copyright and trademark contracts, which would likely state in no uncertain terms that the trademark “F1” can not be used in any manner without prior consent from FOM. Who knows, maybe in an extreme circumstance FOM might allow it’s use under a partnership type of agreement, for a specific one-off project or promotion which benefits both parties equally.
I’m no lawyer, but if Bernie’s Rottweiler-esque, obsessively vicious protection of who gets to use the F1 “brand” is anything to go by, I’m sure the new owners will be of a similar mindset when protecting it.
Otherwise, a precedent will be set and it will become the norm to use and abuse the term “F1” wherever people choose.