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Force India has confirmed that it will enter into a technical partnership with McLaren and Mercedes from next season.

The VJM02 chassis will be powered by a Mercedes V8 engine, and will use McLaren's gearbox, hydraulics and kinetic energy recovery system, in what is described as a 'long-term' deal.

A statement from Force India added that the team would "have access to the McLaren Group's network of bespoke suppliers" and that McLaren "will provide operational support to ensure Force India functions at its highest possible level."

Team boss Vijay Mallya said he was delighted to finalise the partnership.

"McLaren and Mercedes-Benz are two of the most famous names in motorsport history, having achieved great success in grand prix racing over many years, and most recently, a superb victory in probably the most dramatic world championship Formula 1 has seen," he said.

"These new resources and developments will provide an enormous boost to our technical armoury and, as a result, we have high hopes of making good progress in 2009 and beyond."

Force India announced on Friday that it was ending its engine supply deal with Ferrari early, and that Mallya would be taking a greater role in the running of the team - with team manager Colin Kolles and technical boss Mike Gascoyne leaving the squad.

Mallya bought into the team formerly known as Jordan, Midland and Spyker at the end of the 2007 season, dramatically increasing the cash-strapped outfit's resources.

But although Force India closed the gap on the rest of the field in 2008, it was the only team to end the championship without a single point.

However the team boss believes that this situation will change now that Force India is working with McLaren and Mercedes.

"We said at the outset that we meant business and were not interested in merely making up the numbers," Mallya said.

"The announcement of our new technical partnership clearly underlines that we meant what we said."

He added that he was determined that his team would be a front-runner by the time the first Indian GP is held in 2011.

"Interest in Formula 1 in India is growing at astonishing levels," said Mallya.

"Bernie Ecclestone has declared plans to stage an Indian Grand Prix in 2011, in Delhi, our capital city, by which time Force India Formula 1 Team will be exactly that: a Formula 1 force in, and for, India."

Force India hope to be challenging for Formula One race wins by 2010 after announcing a five-year partnership with McLaren and Mercedes on Monday.

The deal, presented to factory employees by principal Vijay Mallya and McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh, will see the team use the same engines and gearbox as those in world champion Lewis Hamilton's McLaren.

The team also plan to use a KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) developed by Mercedes and McLaren and will have access to McLaren's network of suppliers as well as operational support.

"From my perspective, I think I can certainly aspire to winning races maybe in 2010," Mallya told Reuters. "But for 2009 I will be very happy if we are regularly in the points. That would be already a major step forward.

Force India failed to score a point this year and Mallya carried out a major management restructuring last week, with team principal Colin Kolles and technical head Mike Gascoyne both leaving.

The existing engine deal with McLaren's title rivals Ferrari, the champions who powered the independent Toro Rosso team to victory in their home Italian Grand Prix this year, was also terminated a year early.

The ties with McLaren were further tightened by the appointment of McLaren's former director of operations Simon Roberts as Force India's chief operations officer.

STILL INDEPENDENT

However Whitmarsh and Mallya stressed that Force India would remain an independent constructor, in compliance with the sport's governing Concorde Agreement, and was not about to become a 'B' team.

"This isn't a takeover by McLaren," said Whitmarsh.

"I look forward to the day, and I will have a big smile, when we see Force India on the podium. Obviously I hope that we (McLaren) have two cars on the upper steps.

"We are in Formula One to compete and I would be disappointed if the management of Force India aren't looking forward to the day when they give McLaren a hard time on the track," added the McLaren chief.

"If someone is going to beat us in the future, at the moment I'd rather it was a Force India than someone else."

The deal marks a significant departure for Mercedes, who own 40 percent of McLaren and have since 1995 supplied only the Woking team.

Sauber were the last 'customer' team to use Mercedes-badged engines, in 1994. However those engines were built by Ilmor, before the company was taken over by Mercedes.

Whitmarsh dismissed any concern about the new deal diluting his team or Mercedes's championship efforts.

"I believe we can bring business benefit to this organisation and I hope that we can learn some things, not just operationally," he said.

"We are going to learn lessons by looking over the shoulder of Force India and take stock of some of the things we do.

"I believe we will become stronger as a consequence of this," added Whitmarsh. "I would not have gone into this unless I believed it was going to help us win world championships in the future."

Mallya, whose business interests range from the Kingfisher airline to beer and spirits, said his team would be in good shape by the time India hosted a grand prix for the first time.

"Bernie Ecclestone has declared plans to stage an Indian Grand Prix in 2011...by which time Force India Formula One team will be exactly that: a Formula One force in, and for, India."

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008...-INDIA.php

McLaren's De la Rosa tests for Force India


LONDON (Reuters) - McLaren's Spanish reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa switched over to testing duties with the Force India Formula One team at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday.

Force India this month agreed a five-year partnership deal with McLaren and Mercedes that will see them replace their Ferrari engines with a complete drivetrain (engine and gearbox) package next season.

The team will also use a KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) designed by McLaren and Mercedes.

The deal has triggered speculation the experienced De la Rosa could also be drafted in as a race driver for the Silverstone-based team but a Force India spokesman played that down.

"Pedro is an old friend of the team," he said, pointing out that the Spaniard had been a test driver for Force India's predecessors Jordan in 1998 before making his F1 race debut with Arrows in 1999.

FRESH FACE

"It's an opportunity for a fresh face to put a new perspective on an old car," he added.

While some other Formula One teams have two more tests planned before the New Year, this week's outing at the Spanish Grand Prix circuit will be Force India's last track appearance of the year.

The team will not be able to use their Mercedes engines until January and have almost used up their supply of Ferrari power units.

De la Rosa, who tested for McLaren on Monday, was joined by Force India's German race driver Adrian Sutil on Tuesday with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella scheduled to test with the Spaniard on Wednesday.

Force India's billionaire owner Vijay Mallya has said the team intends to keep Fisichella and Sutil but hinted recently that the McLaren deal could change his thinking.

"They (McLaren) will recommend what they believe to be in the best interests of my team and I have to decide," he told Reuters last week. "And I would be hard pressed to ignore their advice."

http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/id...4620081118

Fisichella spikes sacking rumour, delighted by McLaren deal

Laughing off suggestions that his race seat is in danger, veteran driver Giancarlo Fisichella hailed Force India's recent technical partnership with McLaren-Mercedes for the next year, calling it a giant leap forward by the Vijay Mallya-owned outfit.

Fisichella said he recently got his contract renewed and all the talk of either Pedro de la Rosa or Paul di Resta replacing him was nothing but Formula One gossip.

"I originally signed a two-year contract which was reviewed in September to incorporate the McLaren deal. In a few words, the team offered me a better car and a different package," Fisichella told the official formula one website.

"I accepted their proposal and both sides signed the new document between Singapore and China," he added.

Fisichella said the management kept him in the know of thing about Pedro de la Rosa test driving the VJM01 car for two days at last week's Barcelona test and hence it was not a surprise for him.

"The only thing I know is that in September we were told that Pedro could test and we could not say before it was made official so I was not at all surprised.

"As for the rest - I am not really interested in F1 gossip," said the Italian.

Asked what would be his plan B in case Mallya tinkers with the driver line-up, Fisichella said, "The line-up has been announced in China in October by Vijay, and I trust people who trust me."

The seasoned campaigner hailed Force India's recent partnership with McLaren-Mercedes and said, "The partnership is our biggest step towards finding competitiveness in the future. Vijay (Mallya) is building on a solid platform and going forward, so that Adrian and I are given a real chance to perform."

On what he expected from this cooperation with a world championship-winning team, he said, "A competitive package, that's all I want and what I have been promised. And that is a very good reason to drive for the team in 2009."

Looking back at Force India's debut Formula One season, Fisichella said finishing without a point hurt but he didn't expect miracles.

"I knew it was going to be tough and no promises were made to me at the beginning. The plan was to build up the future of the team and genuinely I had no big expectations, so I can say I am not disappointed, especially with my own performance," said the former Renault driver.

Asked what went wrong, he said, "We did not have a competitive car, that is all. Twice we were in the points -Adrian (Sutil) in Monaco and I was eighth in Brazil, but twice we did not score and that is not because of driver errors."

Force India will not test again until its 2009 car, with McLaren components, is ready and Fisichella said he would go on a long holiday before returning to practice in March.

"(I'll go on) a long holiday...but I will try to make the most of it by training hard," said the Italian.

Source :NdTv WebSite