Formula One debutant team Force India today confirmed F1 veteran
Giancarlo Fisichella to lead its driving team in 2008. The Italian, who
celebrates his 35th birthday January 14th, joins German Adrian Sutil, who
held onto his seat despite the newly formed Indian team having a wealth
of experienced job-shopping F1 drivers from whom to choose. Vitantonio
Liuzzi was designated team test driver.
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Giancarlo Fisichella Force India F1 and Vitantonio Luizzi Force India F1 Test Driver. Photo by Force India F1.
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Fisichella joins his new ride from Renault after a less than rousing season
as lead driver in defense of the team's constructors' title. Renault finished
third behind Ferrari and BMW Sauber after McLaren Mercedes were eliminated
from consideration for off-track irregularities. Fisichella placed eighth in
the drivers' competition.
"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," chairman
and managing director Vijay Mallya said. "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 program. I think we have a very strong
driver line-up for 2008."
Sutil, who finished 19th in the 2007 drivers' competition was the number two
driver when he scored the only point last year for Dutch team Spyker, Force
India's previous incarnation. Spyker had been Midland and Jordan before
that.
Fisichella has 12 years of F1 experience gained with Minardi, Jordan,
Benetton, Sauber and Renault. He has scored three victories, captured
three pole positions and earned 267 points.
Sutil will contest his second year of the FIA Formula One World
Championship after regularly pushing more established drivers last year;
earning his first championship point in the Japanese Grand Prix. Sutil
was the 2006 Japanese F3 champion and runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in the
2005 F3 EuroSeries.
"I am very happy to stay with Force India for another season," Sutil
said. "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."
Liuzzi spent three years in F1, first with Red Bull then Scuderia Toro
Rosso. The 27-year-old Italian did well in junior formulae, including a
dominant victory in the 2004 FIA Formula 3000 championship. He won the
CIK Karting title in 2001.
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Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India F1, Adrian Sutil Force India F1, Vijay Mallya CEO Kingfisher, Giancarlo Fisichella Force India F1 and Dr Colin Kolles Force India Team Principal. Photo by Force India F1.
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"I am very pleased to be able to help Force India in their testing and
development program this year," Liuzzi said. "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."
Fisichella, whose future was widely speculated upon when he failed to
wring speed from the Renault, said Force India's team impressed him with
professionalism and commitment exhibited during a test at Jerez, Spain.
"I hope my experience will help them achieve," he said. "Contrary to
what people may think, this was not my only opportunity; it was the best
one."
Other contenders for the Force India posts included Ralf Schumacher,
whose stint at Toyota ended and who now appears to be out of F1 after
more than a decade, and Christian Klien, the former Red Bull driver who
famously turned down other series in order to pursue F1. Klien posted
the fastest time in pre-Christmas testing at Jerez.
