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The Silverstone-based team, who have finished
fourth overall for the last two years, have been considering
dropping the India from their name for some time to make
themselves more attractive to potential sponsors.
Otmar Szafnauer, the chief operating officer, told Reuters on
the first day of testing with the VJM11 car at Barcelona's
Circuit de Catalunya that they had a new name in mind but gave
no details.
He said it was "more than likely" to be changed before the first
race of the season in Australia on March 25. The team had
previously said such a change could happen before the start of
testing.
"We're talking to some people that are thinking of perhaps
sponsoring the team and they are keen for a name change, but
that's not for 2018, That's for 2019," Szafnauer added.
"So it could very well be that it goes until '19 but, you know,
why wait? That's why I say it's probably more likely than not
that it will happen."
Any change of team name has to be approved by Formula One, with
a majority of the teams also voting in favor.
Szafnauer said Force India had yet to make the formal request.
Force India, who have Mexican driver Sergio Perez again
partnering Frenchman Esteban Ocon this season, announced new
sponsors in Mexican oil company Pemex and lubricants company
Ravenol.
The team are co-owned by tycoon Vijay Mallya and Sahara Group
founder Subrata Roy, who have both had well-documented legal
problems.
Mallya, who is also team principal, is fighting a request to
extradite him from Britain to face fraud charges in India
related to the collapse of his Kingfisher Airlines.
Roy's embattled Sahara conglomerate has been involved in its own
long-running dispute after being ordered to repay billions of
dollars to investors in bonds that were ruled to have been
mis-sold.
Russian development driver Nikita Mazepin gave the pink liveried
car its track debut, with Perez and Ocon testing on Tuesday and
Wednesday.
Thursday's plans remained uncertain after Canadian reserve
Nicholas Latifi withdrew for health reasons.
"A serious infection put me in hospital last week and I'm now
recovering at home," the 22-year-old said on Twitter. "Aiming to
be back on track in the next four weeks."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
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