Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsForce India

Mallya exit from United Spirits 'won't affect Force India'

Vijay Mallya has resigned from his position as chairman of drinks company United Spirits (USL), but says that this will not impact his role as team principal and managing director of Force India.

"Having recently turned 60, I have decided to spend more time in England closer to my children," Mallya said on Thursday as he confirmed he was stepping down from his role at United Spirits, although he will maintain the courtesy title of 'Founder Emeritus'.

His resignation was part of a deal agreed with United Spirit's majority owners, global drinks manufacturer Diageo, who took over the business in 2013.

Diageo will pay Mallya $75 million as a severance package in return for a global five-year non-compete arrangement, effective in all regions with the exception of the UK. Mallya will receive $40 million initially and the remainder in instalments over the next five years.

Mallya insisted that there would definitely be no change at Force India where he owns 40 per cent of the team, with the Sahara Group owning a slightly larger block and the balance being held by the Michiel Mol family.

"Nothing has changed at Force India. I remain Team Principal and Managing Director," Mallya told the Press Trust of India on Sunday.

"Formula One has nothing to do with my stepping down from United Spirits. They are not connected at all. In F1, nothing has changed. The ownership pattern remains exactly the same."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.