F1: Vijay Mallya quits as the director of Force India, Siddharth Mallya the new director.

Indian Liquor Baron Vijay Mallya has stepped down as a director of Force India F1 team and is expected to hand over the role to his son Siddarth Mallya, he still will remain the team principal of the team.

Mallya will remain as the co-owner of the team but has resigned as managing director, saying he has his "own legal issues to take care of". In an interview with Autosport, Mallya said he would he would be replaced on the board by his 31-year-old son Siddarth.

Siddharth Mallya previously was the director of the IPL cricket team Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Siddharth Mallya with a famous Indian Actress

"There was no compulsion anywhere to resign, it's just that I decided that my son should replace me. I have my own legal issues to take care of, so it's better that the company remains unaffected. It's better that my son replaces me."My son Siddarth has been appointed instead of me on the board of Force India," he told

Indian government authorities are currently seeking Mallya's extradition from the U.K. to face charges of fraud and money laundering in India. The next hearing in Mallya's ongoing extradition trial is set for July 11th2018, at the Court in London. Mallya also lost a separate lawsuit in the U.K. filed by Indian banks seeking to collect more than £1.15 billion earlier this month.

Since being arrested last year, Mallya has been unable to leave the U.K. and acts as the team principal from his house. Deputy team principal Bob Fernley and COO Otmar Szafnauer oversee the running of the team at Grand Prix.

The news comes after a mixed performance of Force India team in this years F1 Championship, the team was lucky to score a podium finish with Perez at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and a sixth-place finish in Monaco have helped the team in the current standings.

Mallya owns a 42.5 percent share in the Force India Formula One team, with a further 42.5 percent owned by another Indian Sahara Group's Subrata Roy, who was released on parole in May last year after being imprisoned in 2014. The Mol family owns the remaining 15 percent of the Force India team.

Latest F1 News, Result, Standings, and Schedule.