Force India unhappy with new space devoted to driver's name

Force India is discontent with a new rule imposed by the FIA and which could cost the team potential millions in sponsorship revenue.

To help fans indentify more easily their favorite drivers, the governing body decided at a Strategy Group meeting in Paris earlier this week that from Barcelona next month,  a driver's name and race number will have to appear much bigger on their car.

The FIA has now explained that the driver's name - or three-letter abbreviation - must be at least 15cm high, with the number measuring 23cm.

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But Force India is unhappy with the decision, believing the prominent spot on a car's bodywork devoted to a driver's name could be sold to sponsors.

"Where we have to put the names, we could have sold those spaces to sponsors," team manager Andy Stevenson told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Stevenson underlined one particular prime piece of real estate - the sidepod.

"The name there with the prescribed size would be worth $6 million."

So Force India is proposing that teams be allowed to put the name closer to the floor of the car, because "This space is never sold".

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