Thanks for your reply JBolho - got a solution for your F1 season I think. The ai names being changed after CM is restarted never seems to occur if you create a championship, set it all up as you wish and then save it for the first time. If you then play through that championship, the ai names and cars do not change even when CM is restarted or if you resume it a few days later. The bug kicks in once you make any subsequent edit(s) to the championship and save it for the second or more times...ai names (and sometimes cars too) will change each time CM is restarted. It's as if you only get one chance to save the championship …any subsequent edits (particularly to the grid) then the issue will occur.
So create your F1 season from scratch, get everything absolutely right and then save it ONCE - ai names will then be preserved throughout your season. This worked for me after a lot of testing. Cheers