Force India have announced that Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi will continue to race for the team next season. The squad is hopeful that continuity in their driver line-up will be an important factor in the success of their championship challenge in 2010.
“We are very pleased to retain the services of both Adrian and Tonio for another season,” said the team’s chairman and team principal, Dr Vijay Mallya. “We have always maintained that consistency is key at this stage in the team's development and for the first time in many years we will have the continuity of not only the same drivers, but also the same engine and senior management.
“With this stability now in place I truly believe we have an excellent platform to build on and move forward on our strong 2009 performance. I am sure we have one of the most dynamic line-ups on the grid and I hope this will stand us in good stead in what we all hope will be a transitional year for the team.”
2010 will be Sutil’s fourth season in Formula One racing. The 26 year-old German started his F1 career with Force India's predecessors, Midland, as a test and reserve driver in 2006 before graduating to a race seat with Spyker in 2007. Last season he recorded his best-ever Formula One finish when he clinched fourth place in Italy.
“2010 will be my fourth consecutive year with the team,” said Sutil. “I feel good here, it feels like family, and when you feel at ease you can focus your energy 100 percent on getting it right on track. Next season I want to be in the points on a regular basis, maybe even challenging for the podium, and the team has exactly the same goals.
"We are going massively in the right direction so with our combined energies I'm confident we can achieve even more than last season.”
Liuzzi was promoted from his test and reserve role to a race seat in September after predecessor Giancarlo Fisichella moved to Ferrari to replace the injured Felipe Massa. He had made his race debut back in 2005 with Red Bull and moved to Toro Rosso for the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
“'It was always my goal to be back racing in 2010 and I've finally achieved it,” explained the 28 year-old Italian. “I feel the five races I did in 2009 were a bit of a warm-up; get back racing, learn the car, get the feeling back. Now I've done that I feel ready to really push next season.
"We were pretty strong in the last part of the 2009 season so if we pick up where we stopped I think we could be in for a good year. For sure points are the aim and showing everyone what we can do."
Force India also revealed that an announcement regarding their third driver will be made following next week’s young driver test. The team will field upcoming British driver Paul di Resta and current Indy Lights champion American JR Hildebrand during the three-day test, which gets underway at the Spanish circuit of Jerez on Tuesday.
