By Karl King
January 10 2008
The Force India F1 Team presented its driver line up of Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi to the world today in a glitzy press conference in Mumbai. When asked about the lack of an Indian driver in a team with the the nation in its title, Dr Vijay Mallya, co-owner of the team, hinted that he did not think there were any Indian drivers that were ready for Formula 1.
The Indian billionaire mentioned the fact that India's most famous motorsport export of late, Narain Karthikeyan has only recently won his first race in A1GP after a miserable time in F1, whilst Karun Chanduk needs, he feels, another season in GP2.
Mallya spoke at the press conference of his desire to create an Indian F1 driver who is ready for F1 - an "Indian Lewis Hamilton equivalent".
Mallya was cautious to warn people not to expect to much too soon, but expressed confidence of getting the team to the level of competing for podiums at the inaugural Indian GP in Delhi.
Mainly, of course, the press conference was to announce who would line up alongside Adrian Sutil. You can see the stories on this site on the announcement of Fisichella and Liuzzi by clicking their names.
Giancarlo said, "I am looking forward to joining Force India for the coming season. At the test in Jerez, I was very impressed with the team's professionalism and commitment to move forward and I hope that my experience will help them achieve these goals. Contrary to what people may think, this was not my only opportunity, it was the best one: with new owners and a competitive budget, I really think we can shake things up next year. I feel motivated and ready to help Force India get points on a regular basis."
Adrian commented, "I am very happy to stay with Force India for another season. There was interest from other teams, but the opportunity to stay with a growing team that has strong ambitions is very positive for me at this stage in my career. I am also very excited about the opportunity to work with Giancarlo. He is very experienced and has driven for a World Championship winning team, which can only help both myself and Force India learn and move forward."
Tonio added, "I am very pleased to be able to help Force India in their testing and development programme this year. With increased resources there will be much more input and emphasis into the team's testing, and the test driver's role will be crucial to helping progress. I know I can play a big part in the team as it grows, which is a good opportunity for me going forward."
Dr. Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director of Force India F1 Team commented, "The Force India Formula One Team is a serious project and we wanted to make a statement to this effect with our driver line-up. Money is not the issue now: we need drivers who will push the team and give us direction. The race line-up of Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil is a very good one, balancing both speed and experience, and Tonio will provide the team with solid support in his testing programme. I think we have a very strong driver line-up for 2008."
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