Q & A with Vijay Mallya

Vijay Mallya: "I have applied to the FIA to change the name of the team to Force India Formula One. The name of the company will change from Spyker Formula One Team Ltd to Force India Formula One Team Ltd."

Q: And do you need approval from the other teams?

Mallya: "Now it is an internal process of the FIA. At the end of the day I don't see why anyone would object, because 'Force India' very clearly brings India and the hundreds of millions of people in India to the sport of Formula One.

"It is not beneficial only to our team; it is beneficial to the whole sport and all the sponsors involved in the sport. I think if somebody looks at the positives that could be associated with this, then there shouldn't be a difficulty."

Q: Will there be an Indian flavour to the team?

Mallya: "The logo is decided. It will be the F in the colours of the Indian flag. Together, the F1 will stand for Force India.

"The livery of the car will obviously be determined by the sponsors that we have, because a sponsor wants the colours of the car to also be compatible with their own branding.

"But the Force India logo with the Indian flag will obviously feature quite prominently."

Q: Will your Kingfisher sponsorship move from Toyota to Force India then next year?

Mallya: "It doesn't necessarily have to switch. It can be in addition to. One can be the beer and one can be the airline. But I have other brands. I brought White & Mackay, I have other brands of spirits in India as well.

"That is obviously a question I get asked by all my friends and Indian businessmen to whom I say, 'now you have to advertise on Force India Formula One.' They almost expect me to advertise my brands as well."

Q: Will there still be a Dutch flavour at the team?

Mallya: "At the end of the day both of the partners agreed up front, that India was an opportunity waiting to be leveraged. That is why we chose the name Force India. So, I don't see what reason there is to try and bring nationalities into the picture unless there are huge economic reasons for it.

"Here is a country with 400 million youngsters under 20 years of age, all waiting for an alternative sport to cricket to follow. The television viewership is going to sky rocket.

"It happened to a lesser extent when Narain Karthikeyan started driving, but having an Indian owned team on the F1 grid was considered completely out of reach.

"It is an expensive sport, big budgets, very glamorous and something that Indians perceived was in a different orbit and where India would never be.

"But now of course it is a reflection of new India, a reflection of the new prosperous India, that we have the ability to place a team on the Formula One grid. That itself has been received with a huge amount of excitement in India. It is good for everyone and good for the sport."