The Force India vacant seat alongside Adrian Sutil was the target of several drivers. I was not too surprised when they decided to hire Giancarlo Fisichella.

Giancarlo Fisichella - Italy
Born: 14 January 1973
In F1 since 1996 - Minardi, 1997 - Jordan, 1998 - 2001 Benetton, 2002 - 2003 Jordan, 2004 Sauber, 2005 - 2007 Renault, 2008 Force India
Best Result: 4th in 2006
Career wins: 3
Pole positions: 3
Podium Finishes: 18

After departure of Fernando Alonso from Renault to McLaren, Fisichella probably thought his chance to fight for the has finally come. Unfortunately for him Renault did not have the best of seasons in 2007 and at the end Fisi finished the season even behind his rookie team mate Heikki Kovalainen. Few were surprised Renault did not retain him for 2008 season. The move to Force India may look as a step back for Fisichella. He is returning to a team he raced for twice already while it was still known as Jordan. He may now forget about his dream to win the F1 title. He however seems to be enjoying his time in the Indian team. He was quite impressive during winter tests, clearly faster than both Sutil and Liuzzi (the 3rd driver). He is out to prove his critics wrong and his selection by Vijay Mallya right.

Adrian Sutil - Germany
Born: 11 January 1983
In F1 since 2007 - Spyker, 2008 Force India (tested for Midland/Spyker in 2006)
Best result: 4th in 2006
Career wins: 0
Pole positions: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Best finish: 8th

Adrian Sutil has been mentioned often in connection with the vacant seat in McLaren, but frankly speaking, I somehow do not see why. He was not bad, but he also was not exactly spectacular during 2007 season. Yes, he was the fastest guy in Saturday practice in Monaco, but it was cold windy and wet and who knows who was testing what time. He has a talent but he will definitely benefit from another season with former Spyker now Force India. That is however if he does get too humiliated by Giancarlo Fisichella. If many around the F1 paddock consider Fisi to be a spent force, what would they thing about a young talent who can’t beat Fisichella… And Liuzzi is around and waiting for his chance …

F1Wolf’s prediction for Force India drivers in 2008:
Unfortunately for Sutil I expect Fisichella to dominate here. Liuzzi may get his chance…

2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Ferrari
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - McLaren
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - BMW Sauber
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Renault
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Williams
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Red Bull
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Toyota
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Honda
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Toro Rosso

F1Wolf

labels: plugin code here

I just finished watching the webcast from the Force India car launch. Mr. Mallya had some difficulties pronouncing the names of his F1 drivers right but the event was more about the car.

From what I could see from the small screen web video on the excellent Force India website, the colour scheme is different from the interim livery the team has been using so far this winter. In Vijay Mallya’s words the 2008 car, VJM01, is white and tungsten (gold) with touches of red. The Kingfisher logo can’t be missed. I will post the photos here once they become available.

F1Wolf

labels: plugin code here

The Force India confirmed today the expected drivers line up for the 2008 season. Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil will lead the team for its debut 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship campaign. Vitantonio Liuzzi will fulfill a test and reserve driver role for Force India.

Giancarlo Fisichella:

“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.”

Read the rest of this entry »

F1Wolf

labels: plugin code here

The latest media buzz suggest that the scenario that appeared here at F1Wolf earlier may materialize.

It is rumoured that as expected Giancarlo Fisichella will be announced as a Force India race drivers alongside Adrian Sutil. Vitantonio Liuzzi is set to join the team as a 3rd driver. Liuzzi said earlier that he would be happy with test driver role in Force India for 2008, unlike Christian Klien. This Liuzzi’s attitude may be what may save his F1 career…

We may not have to wait for too long to find out what the selection really will be. Force India announcement is expected this week, perhaps on January 11.

F1Wolf

labels: plugin code here

The contest for the Force India race drive is getting hotter. Not that drivers can now do much about the selection (or do they ?) but nevertheless they all talk a lot. Here is the summary of what the leading contenders for the Force India seat Ralf Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Christian Klien and Roldan Rodriguez had to say:

Ralf Schumacher:

“I’m testing today because Vijay Mallya asked me to try the car. This way I can give the team some feedback and tell them what might need to be changed. I don’t see myself as a candidate though to race with the team next season. To be honest, I don’t exactly know what I will be doing next season. Maybe I will quit racing, or maybe I will just join another racing series. I just want to do what’s best for me. This week might have been the final outing for me in a Formula 1 car.”

Giancarlo Fisichella

“I can bring a lot of experience and ideas of how we can go in the right direction. I think I did a good job with the team in the couple of days testing. We were working in a few areas and we made a step forward, especially in the car balance and the set up. The team was quite impressed with the job I did so far. I am impressed about the team, which is still a small one, but they have a good potential. I still know a few mechanics from when I drove here in 1997, 2002 and 2003 (as Jordan). I feel a good atmosphere and it was good to be back with them. Force India is working on a nice project, with a better budget then last year and they can go up very quickly, so we’ll see. We’ll see if we’re both happy to work together in the future.”

and…

“My objective is to race with Force India. I wouldn’t have gone through a shoot-out otherwise, because it’s always something very tense. All the drivers at Jerez were there for that, let’s not kid ourselves. Even Ralf Schumacher arrived two days earlier, went often around the track to see the trajectories and he was in contact with the pits. He never did that at Toyota. No one came to Jerez to be a tourist of for a stroll in F1.”

Read the rest of this entry »

F1Wolf

labels: plugin code here

What has been rumoured has been confirmed. Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher will test with Force India next week.

What does this mean ?

a) Fisichella has very likely been shipped out of Renault
b) McLaren did not answer Ralf’s calls

Liuzzi and Klien have extra competition, it remains to be seen if Vijay Mallya is looking for some experience he may use during car development or for young aggressive drivers.

Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher, Liuzzi and Klien will also share the Force India cars with Franck Montagny, Roldan Rodriguez and Giedo van der Garde.

Adrian Sutil can continue his holidays

F1Wolf

labels: plugin code here

During the past month I published series of posts with the high resolution photos of all the teams and all the drivers (well almost, one driver is missing) of 2007 Formula 1 season for download.

For those who missed it, here are all the links:

Kimi Raikkonen
Lewis Hamilton
Fernando Alonso
Felipe Massa
Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica
Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen
Nico Rosberg, Alex Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima
Mark Webber, David Coulthard
Jarno Trulli, Ralf Schumacher
Sebastian Vettel, Scott Speed, Vitantonio Liuzzi
Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello
Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson
Adrian Sutil, Christijan Albers, Sakon Yamamoto

Screensavers are also on the way. If you do not want to miss out, subscribe to F1 Wolf via RSS Feed or E-mail

F1Wolf

labels: plugin code here