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Virgin poised to seek name change

ESPNF1 Staff
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The team wants to remove Virgin from its title © Sutton Images
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Virgin will look to change its name to Marussia at a Formula One Commission meeting this week, according to reports.

The Times reports that the team wants to remove the name Virgin from its name, with its official title currently Marussia Virgin Racing. Marussia - a Russian car brand - has been providing the financial backing for the team, while the team has been carrying the Virgin name despite no sponsorship money changing hands. The report cites team insiders as saying that Virgin will remain as a partner.

The change will be considered at the F1 Commission meeting in Geneva this week, where the Lotus name changes for 2012 are expected to be approved, with Team Lotus becoming Caterham and Renault becoming Lotus.

One name change that has been ruled out, however, is Red Bull's Renault engines being rebranded Infiniti. Red Bull has been carrying the name of the Nissan-owned luxury car company this season, but Renault president Carlos Ghosn said it would not be renaming the engines to promote the brand.

"I don't think you can have a name artificially," Ghosn is quoted by SID. "If Renault supplies the technology you can't say that for marketing reasons we call it Infiniti."

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