New Delhi : The founder and chief of Sahara Group died on Tuesday at the age of 75 after prolonged illness. Subrata Roy, who established a huge business empire in India’s retail sector, real estate and financial services, was embroiled in controversies facing legal challenges due to Ponzi schemes. Subrata Roy was also known as Sahara Pramukh. Sahara India Parivar was not only associated as a sponsor of the T-shirt of the Indian cricket team, but Subroto Roy played an important role in bringing Formula-1 race to India for motorsport enthusiasts.
Force India team snatched from Vijay Mallya in 2011
According to a report by Times of India, Sahara India Parivar acquired about 42.5 percent stake in the Force India team in 2011 with an investment of $100 million. Earlier, the ownership of this team was with liquor baron and fugitive Indian industrialist Vijay Mallya. After this the name of the team was changed to Sahara Force India. The report adds that over the years, popular drivers like Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon have driven for the Sahara Force India F1 team.
Force India’s decline started from 2018
However, due to legal challenges, Subrata Roy was sent to jail. Following this, Sahara Force India went into administration midway through the 2018 Formula One season due to financial problems related to Vijay Mallya. In August 2018, the team’s assets were purchased by Racing Point F1 Team, owned by Canadian billionaire and investor Lawrence Stroll, and continued to race under the Force India name for the remainder of the 2018 season.
Team name changed in 2019
According to the report, after getting stuck in legal hassles, Subrata Roy’s Force India, competing under the British license, changed the name of the team to Racing Point F1 Team in February 2019. About a year later, it was announced that Lawrence Stroll was leading a consortium, Yew Tree Overseas Ltd., which acquired a 16.7 percent stake in British luxury sports car manufacturer Aston Martin. This resulted in the commercial rebranding of Racing Point F1 Team to Aston Martin F1 Team for the 2021 season. As part of the rebrand, the team changed its racing color BWT Pink to a modern version of Aston Martin’s British Racing Green color.