Speculation has runt he gambit on just who Vijay Mallya will retain as his 2009 pilots for Force India. After inking a deal with McLaren as a technical partner, read provider of customer cars, it was thought that a steady stable of McLaren drivers would be tested and eventually find a new home at FIF1. Apparently after some testing and lots of rumors and press, Vijay has announced that he is keepign his current driver line-up for 2009.
“I firmly believe that next year will be a huge opportunity for this team,” he said. “We have a new technical partnership with McLaren and Mercedes, a dynamic new management structure and now one of the most solid driver line-ups on the grid.
“We certainly welcomed the insight and advice of our new partners in this matter, however the choice was entirely ours based on the current talent available in the market today.
“In Giancarlo, Adrian and Tonio we have a wonderful balance between experience and ambition, and now complete consistency.”
Now this is a good thing because just who was Grace going to rant about in 2009 if Fisi left? I think this is a good move. You are acquiring a whole new technical partner with new lumps, chassis, drivetrain and aero. You would benefit from a pair of drivers who can instantly tell the effect from last years car and track the progress. Why replace drivers with all the other changes Vijay will have to manage? He recently terminated the employment of Colin Koles and Mike Gascoyne as well so some consistency would be a welcome thing from my point of view.
