12-Dec-07: Fisichella Hopes for Force India Drive
Today is the 12th December 2007, I’m Christine and this is F1 Minute.
Giancarlo Fisichella has said that he definitely has his hopes on a drive for Force India, saying he wouldn’t have gone through the shoot-out at Jerez if he didn’t want the seat. He won’t have long to wait, as Force India are expected to announce who will be joining Adrian Sutil at the end of December.
Team boss Vijay Mallya has given an interview to the official Formula1.com website, with some notable insights. About the driver choice, he said: “In the past the team was looking for money, so money was the prime motivating factor for the driver line-up. Now that has changed. For me the prime factors are performance and the ability to give feedback to the engineers.” He also mentioned that Indian driver Karun Chandhok is like a son to him, but will need to prove himself in GP2 before he gets a seat in Force India.
Mallya is very focused on bringing the team up to scratch, saying they have no excuses now that the budget isn’t a problem. As encouragement, he tells the engineers that they will have to be on the podium for the Indian GP in 2010.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
me on Wed, 12th Dec 2007 20:55
i thought ralf said it wasn’t a shoot out?
Christine on Wed, 12th Dec 2007 20:58
Well, Ralf was sulking that he messed it up, so maybe Fisichella is feeling pretty confident?
me on Wed, 12th Dec 2007 21:03
ooooh, nice one.
Vittorio84 on Thu, 13th Dec 2007 10:31
I think Force India needs money at this moment. Fisichella can get the drive but he needs to bring in new sponsors.
Ollie on Thu, 13th Dec 2007 13:27
I actually hope Fisichella gets the drive, it would be a shame to lose him from the grid. And it would mean an almost full circle for his career. (Minardi), Jordan, Benetton… Force India. Maybe in 2009 he’ll find himself in a Scuderia Toro Rosso!?
shaun on Thu, 13th Dec 2007 13:56
Great new site!. I have made a new link from my site to this one.Keep up the good work and what do think of that ‘Schumy taxi story’ ?.
Christine on Thu, 13th Dec 2007 19:44
I’m not sure that Force India do need the money, to be honest. The interview with Mallya showed him to be pretty confident about the budget, he basically said he gave Gascoyne everything he needed, money, resources, whatever.
I’m not really a fan of Fisi, but I don’t think he’s ready to give up just yet. Besides, it’s one of the few names I can actually pronounce!
@shaun - thanks for the linkage. I wasn’t convinced about the story until I read it on the BBC, and now I just think it’s odd. Could he really get there any quicker than a taxi driver who knows the roads like the back of his hands? Alright he can probably corner better, but really, regular roads are v. different to an F1 track.
me on Thu, 13th Dec 2007 19:49
shaun, you hit the nail on the head in your blog:
i don’t think the taxi story is true because it’ll ruin all the FIA road safety work he’s been doing. the fact that he’s driving in the ROC soon isn’t a coincidence either.
Tanya on Mon, 4th Feb 2008 06:25
Yep. Hope for the best. By selecting some good & experienced drivers Force India will become one of the best competitor in F1. During intial time every one needs money & hope that Mr. Mallya will manage it very well. Force India will rise not literally rising from ashes but back to glorious shine from no where. That’s why now we come across something called Force India Club .
Some really Interesting information here. Even pics !
Dr. Vijay Mallya Rocks………
India is with you sir.
me on Mon, 4th Feb 2008 12:10
tanya, i’ve seen a couple of your comments around the web recently.
as good as club-force is, i think you’re hurting the the team’s good name by spamming all and sundry in this manner.