Force India Unveils New Management Structure

Following on from today’s announcement regarding the amicable termination of the Ferrari contract, the Force India Formula One Team has taken yet another step forward with its 2009 revamp plans.

Force India’s senior management structure will be streamlined with immediate effect. Dr Vijay Mallya will assume the responsibilities of Team Principal in addition to his position as Chairman, to play a greater role in the direction of the team, assisted by Robert Fernley, Director of Force India. In a reorganisation of the team’s technical department, Mark Smith, design director, and James Key, technical director, will share entire responsibility for the design of the VJM02 and future cars.

As a result of the restructure, Colin Kolles, Mike Gascoyne and Patrick Missling, formerly corporate and business director, will no longer form a direct part of the team’s design, manufacture, race and test operations.

Dr Vijay Mallya commented, ‘Force India is my most difficult project to date and it has become clear that it requires more direct input from my side and greater performance accountability. We have come a long way this season, but we need more and that requires some radical reorganisation of the management structure to ensure the maximum productivity. I would like to thank Colin Kolles for his tireless efforts in keeping such a small team alive and to Mike Gascoyne for bringing his wealth of technical expertise. Both have played an instrumental part in making the team what it is today. On Monday November 10th,I will announce the new Technical direction of the team as well as the appointment of a new Chief Operating Officer who will assume overall responsibility for our Silverstone and Brackley facilities, Race and Test operations.”

07-Nov-08: Force India Change Engine Partners and Technical Direction

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Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 7th November.

It’s all change at Force India, as the team issued a press release today confirming that they will be ending the partnership with Ferrari. The contract was due to expire after next season, but Force India have called for it to end a year early. We are all assuming that there will be news of a McLaren engine agreement soon.

Vijay Mallya also announced that he is reorganising the team and has shuffled the management around to give himself more responsibility. The move sees both Colin Kolles and Mike Gascoyne without a job. Mallya said that Force India was the toughest project he’d ever had and having watched from the sidelines for a year, he can see he needs to be more hands on. He now takes over the Technical Director role and says: “On Monday November 10th, I will announce the new technical direction of the team as well as the appointment of a new Chief Operating Officer.”

Finally, a quick notice. As the season is now over, F1 Minute returns to it’s weekday only schedule, so have a great weekend, and I’ll be back on Monday with another F1 Minute.

13-May-08: Turkey Could Face Sanction Over Dog Invasion

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This is F1 Minute and today is the 13th May.

The FIA have confirmed that the Turkish circuit could face sanction after two dogs got onto the track during the GP2 race this weekend. A spokesman said: “This was a serious lapse in circuit security and safety. How could such a thing happen at an almost brand new Formula One track?” He went on to say that the Safety Commission will investigate and sanctions can’t be ruled out.

Elsewhere today, Force India principal Colin Kolles has said that the independent teams in F1 can still do well, and that Super Aguri failed because of the lack of a business model and not because smaller teams have no place in F1’s future. He said: “You can find investors and shareholders if you have the right business model, a clean sheet, and you have a clean company.”

And finally, in sponsor news, AMD are not going to renew their contract with Ferrari, and Lewis Hamilton is apparently interested in a $20 million sponsorship deal with sportswear brand Reebok.

Thanks for listening, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.