India out in full force

MUMBAI, January 11: After all the hoopla and media blitz surrounding business tycoon Vijay Mallya's takeover of the Spyker Formula One team, it all came down to the next step - giving it a concrete shape.
In other words, the honeymoon was over. Now was the time for action. It has been said, whatever Mallya does, he does it in style but with all seriousness.So, it was on Thursday when he presented his drivers to the world.
Mallya has got the best possible men to 'join the force' when India's Formula One team - Force India will line up on the grid in Melbourne on March 16. Experienced hand and former Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella will drive a billion Indian dreams over the coming F1 season. Joining the Italian would be German Adrian Sutil. Another Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi will undertake testing duties for the team.
The drivers were unveiled at a packed and glitzy press conference on Thursday. The three drivers emerged out of the helmet-shaped structure one by one.
And as Mallya announced, "Today is a proud moment for me personally and am sure many here will share this pride. I am personally happy to put an Indian car on the Formula One grid." There was nobody present there who didn't get the goose bumps.
"It was felt that motorsport and especially Formula One was considered an elitist sport and completely out of reach. The budget, the expenses and the glitz and glamour of F1 was considered out of reach for a developing nation like us. But with me heading a large company in India, the Tata Group acquiring Corus and Jaguar are instances of showing to the world that not only is India globally competitive but technologically advanced too," Mallya said.
On the job at hand, he said, "We are not underestimating the challenges in front of us. We know the spotlight is on us. We won't have any miracles in 2008. But we will go in that direction. In 2010, when India hosts a Grand Prix, Force India will occupy a place on the podium. With these drivers and a team principal like Colin Kolles, we will map out where we need to go."
About the choice of drivers, he said, "One major step for us was picking the right drivers. The previous ownership couldn't get drivers in helping in the development of the car. So, we did things differently. We had two tests at Barcelona and Jerez, and we had seven drivers, which was unprecedented. And I thank them. We learnt a lot from them. We were looking at experience and the drivers assisting the engineering team. That is how this driver line-up came up."
On the touchy topic of not having an Indian driver, namely Narain Karthikeyan, Mallya was forthright with his answer. "I have known Narain very well for many years. Currently, he is doing the A1 Grand Prix. He did win in China but I think its a long way off on what I am looking at," said the liquor magnate and promptly added, "Before you ask me about Karun Chandhok, let me tell you that Karun is a like a son to me. And by his own admission, he still needs another year in GP2. More importantly, our engineering team should benefit from our drivers choice. We needed to select drivers to suit the purpose and no Indian fit the bill."
As compared to last year where Spyker spent $70 million, Mallya has upped the stakes to $120 million. "It is almost on par with other teams but I firmly believe that money cannot buy performance," said Mallya.
"Today is a historic day for India. Thanks to Vijay, you are in Formula One," Fisichella, with his highly Italian accent said. "For you, the best sport might be cricket. But for the future, it is going to get better and better with Formula One."
Team principal Colin Kolles said, "In the past, we have had few tough moments. But I think a huge motivation is going throughout the team after Mallya came in. The budgets have also increased and additional wind tunnels have been possible. Our biggest deficit is the aerodynamics and we are working on that on three wind tunnels 24/7. That is the amount of intensive tests we are doing to improve the aero."
Adrian Sutil said, "There is no real pressure. I know what I can do. I will try and do good races and do a good job."