The word in F1 circles is that Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella is hoping to land a test drive with Ferrari next year. The decision to give Luca Badoer a chance to race for Ferrari after a decade as the test driver is interpreted in F1 circles as being a sign that he will soon be moving on and Fisichella reckons that his experience in F1 is just what the red team needs.
Fisichella currently drives for India’s Vijay Mallya and although Mallya owns the biggest yacht in the harbour in Valencia, there continue to be rumours that he owes large sums of money to both Ferrari and to Mercedes-Benz, his engine suppliers for the last two seasons. These problems may be cash-flow related but they are now beginning to lead to rumours about legal actions and indeed about the future of the team. Mallya, of course, hopes to keep the operation going until India becomes more excited about F1, which he hopes will happen when there is an Indian GP in 2011. It is a nice idea, but he needs to survive for two years more and building up debt is not the best way to achieve that goal, particularly if you are giving the impression that you are a multi-squillionaire by swanning about in boats.
One rumour that has begun to circulate is that Prodrive might make a bid to buy Mallya out of the team. This would enable the Brackley team to use Mercedes-Benz engines, which is what it wishes to do. Unable to get an entry thus far, Prodrive is believed to want the German engines as part of a much bigger industrial plan which involves its sister company Aston Martin. The luxury car manufacturer would love to be in F1 to help sell its fancy road cars, but will only do that if it makes financial sense. Aston Martin also needs to find new engines for its future generations of road cars and the word is that Mercedes-Benz is the best option. Building its own engines is not an option because of the expensive nature of the certification process with governments across the globe.
Perhaps Mallya will knock the rumours on the head by reaching for his chequebook, but if he does not the whispers are sure to get louder in the weeks ahead.
joeblogsf1 
That certainly sound like a fitting guise for the team formerly known as Jordan: Prodrive Aston Martin—Mercedes.
So let me get this straight, Prodrive wants into F1 so that they can heve benz engines, and so that sister co Aston Martin can begin to use benz engines in the future for there road cars? Aston Martin wants into F1 so that they can ‘possibly’ help sell there cars in the future with the benz motors in them? WTF am i the only one who thinks this is retarded???
Ill give Mallya the credit that at least he is trying his best to make his people more interested in F1, which he has done a great job of so far. None the less his team is horrible, but at least he is in F1 for better reasons then the Stupid Aston Martin brits!
Joe
just wanted to say that I think your blog is great – really well written and very insightful
thanks for keeping me entertained and informed
Steve
It’s time Mallya sold. He reminds me of Paul Stoddart. He arrived with talk of great things and he has delivered nothing. It is ridiculous Prodrive does not have an F1 slot. David Richards has shown that he knows how to run an F1 team and is a born winner.
I am fed up with the franchise system of F1 where teams have a perpetual slot on the grid without contributing anything. Lets have more teams than there are grid slots and put the slow teams under pressure.
To me if someone can turn up with a car/team that is eligible they should be allowed to attempt to qualify. F1 should be about being the best and not a protectionist closed shop where once you acquire a franchise you can stay forever without showing any ambition. Let the real racers like Prodrive and Epsilon Euskadi build a car and attempt to qualify in the same way Eddie Jordan did. Then all the pretenders would close up shop and leave and the sport would be more competitive
El Jefe, you’re being a little retarded here. Aston already have technical agreements with Mercedes Benz and this relationship is deepening to the point where Aston will shortly have ‘Mercedes’ engines with bespoke electronics, technical gubbins and branding. Clearly, its unlikely that an Aston Martin F1 team would be branded “Aston Martin-Mercedes Benz” but coming to an agreement to have the Mercedes engine rebranded for an appropriate fee will not be difficult.
Mr. Joe Saward,
If I could be so kind as to inquire on where the rumors are coming from, concerning Mr. Vijay Mallya and the non-payment of engines delivered, from the Ferrari and Mercedes Factories.
Seems somewhat suspect.
Please let me know.
Thanks.
They are not suspect at all. There is no question that the team owes a considerable amount of money. This comes from multiple sources – all of them good. Otherwise I would not have mentioned it.
If one reveals sources they stop being sources. Some journalists work only if they have quotes. They do not get the really good inside stuff as a result. I use sources and I do not reveal them
thank’s your post, i like this