Otmar Szafnauer, Force India, 2018

Force India will consider further change of name for 2019

2019 F1 season

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Force India could adopt a new identity for the 2019 F1 season following its change of ownership.

The team has entered its cars under the name Racing Point Force India F1 Team for this weekend’s race. However its constructor name, which F1 teams are widely known by, remains Force India Mercedes.

New team principal Otmar Szafnauer said the team will consider whether to change its team and constructor names for 2019.

“We’ve got some time to decide that,” he said in today’s FIA press conference.

“But I believe now that we are a new entrant with Force India as a chassis name, for us to change we will have to get approval from the Formula One Commission. So we’ve got to come up with a name that will be lasting and appropriate and also be approved by the Formula One Commission.

“So I don’t know what that is. This is brand new, but the good news is that we’ve got a few months to think about it before we have to enter for next year.”

Applications for the 2019 season have to be submitted by November 30th, five days after this year’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.

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Force India was required to keep its previous name in order to gain approval to continue competing in the championship following its change in ownership. Some rival teams who were concerned Force India could be turned into a Mercedes B-team pushed for its previous identity to be retained.

Speaking in a separate interview later, Szafnauer said there “won’t be this Ferrari/Haas type of relationship [with Mercedes], even though the others were worried about it.”

The team and its drivers also continue with the same allocation of power unit components they had previously.

“We had confirmation today from [FIA race director] Charlie [Whiting] that we will continue with the engine allocation and gearbox allocation as if we never ceased racing,” said Szafnauer.

“I think in his eyes he thought that was the most fair thing to do vis-a-vis the other teams, so that’s how we’re going to go forward.”

As Mercedes has introduced a new specification of power unit this weekend, both Force India drivers are using new engines and associated parts.

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2019 F1 season

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5 comments on “Force India will consider further change of name for 2019”

  1. It’s funny that they don’t get a new allocation of engines and gearboxes. If it’s a new team that can’t claim the points the previous iteration achieved, why should it surrender the engines that same team used to score those points that are no longer there in the standings? Seems like a double whammy in terms of fairness, even though the other teams wouldn’t have liked the idea of Racing Point using 3 new engines for the remainder of the season.

    This situation isn’t something you seek to gain an advantage, it’s a very bad consequence of a series of decisions by the previous owner, the administrator and the buyers.

    Again, I think this matters should not be resolved considering the other teams , in the same way that the decision to give the prize money should entirely be on FIAs shoulders regardless of what others think

    1. I agree. IMHO, they should get a new allocation of engines, but this should be at the expense of the last years prize money. Logically, this would make sense.

      1. Ian Thomas (thelem)
        27th August 2018, 16:43

        They are keeping their points in the drivers championship, so from that point of view it would not be fair if they got a new engine allocation.

    2. @fer-no65 A PU element allocation is allocated based on car entry rather than team or driver.

  2. I’m voting for “Force Canada”.

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