The Force India F1 Team has announced that Adrian Sutil, Paul di Resta and Nico Hülkenberg will be the team’s drivers in 2011. The team did not mention contracted driver Tonio Liuzzi in the official press release.
It is believed that di Resta has been given the second Force India drive in exchange for the free supply of the Mercedes KERS system, which would otherwise be costing the team in the region of $6 million, after the German manufacturer decided to hike the price of the system last autumn. This is in addition to an engine bill which works out at around $12 million, at the current rates of exchange.
Di Resta is 25 and comes from Scotland. He is IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti’s cousin. He started out in karting in 1994 and moved to cars in 2002 in Formula Renault. He finished third in the British Championship in 2004, driving for Manor Motorsport, being beaten by Mike Conway and and Westley Barber, but then moved on to the Formula 3 Euroseries, still with Manor, in 2005. He finished 10th in the championship and then moved to the ASM team in 2006, as team-mate to Sebastian Vettel, Giedo Van der Garde and Kamui Kobayashi. The team won a total of 10 of the 20 races that year, with di Resta winning five and the title, Vettel four and Van der Garde one. As a result he was signed by Mercedes to race in DTM and has been there ever since. He finished fifth overall in 2007, second in 2008, third in 2009 and won the the title in 2010. Last year he did Friday practice sessions for Force India at eight races. The only occasion when he went faster than one of two regular drivers was in Spain, where Liuzzi lost most of the session with a throttle problem. It will be interesting to see how he adapts to single-seater racing after five full seasons in touring cars.
Do McLaren us the Mercedes KERS or do they have their own in-house system?
Maybe unethical but a smart move. Makes sense financialy and will most likely result in more points for the team at the end of the season. Pity for Liuzzi but he had his shot at it and failed to make a mark. Also good to see Hulkenberg keeping his toe in, maybe he can put some pressure on Sutil in the friday sessions. Sutil may be the teams golden boy but like Liuzzi so far he has failed to impress. Korea was an absolute disaster, his claim to fame so far being punted of by Raikkonen.
Yeah great news!! So can we call Paul Di Resta as Pay driver now lols
Joe,
So once again the real story is about Mallya’s uncapacity (or unwill) to pay bills? Has he payed engine bills these last years? What do the Mercedes people say with this embarassing custumer? Haug?
Any clue of Liuzzi’s next move and when he will?
Luke, yes, I do believe they are using Merc KERS.
di Resta could be considered a pay driver, but he is talented, though he has been out of single-seater racing for quite a while.
Apparently he was told he got the drive on Christmas Eve.
So it would be interesting to know what has been going on behind the scenes in the meantime, in regards to Liuzzi.
Ed,
I think I have made it fairly clear that there has been a lot of hurly-burly behind the scenes.
Frankly any person with right mind would take De Resta with Merc KERS over Liuzzi.
Good to see FiF1 has a formidable lineup now, hopefully sutil will move out to better team next year which allow Hulkenberg to race.
Joe, what do you think Mercedes motive in this is? Wanting to pay back di Resta for his services in DTM? Hoping he can graduate to Mercedes F1 team in the future? Help brand DTM as a F1 feeder series? Something else?
Nicolai,
I guess that they want to to go on attracting young talent to a series that is, frankly, a bit of a dead end for youngsters. If on driver gets into F1 now and then it is good for Mercedes to keep pulling in the good kids from Formula 3.
UGH! Joe seems to have something against Di Resta. Or something for Liuzzi. Why he is writing this BS, I have no idea.
eg: “The only occasion when he went faster than one of two regular drivers was in Spain, where Liuzzi lost most of the session with a throttle problem.”
Well, Duh! Paul is drivin in FP1. Collecting data, and making baseline setups. He is not expected to push the car to the max, and crash somewhere.
Also, he is sitting in a cockpit, tailor made for another driver. There are plenty of reasons more. Surely I expected Joe to know this.
Anyway, people who saw these posts from different forums, are crying bloody murder, and calling Joe a complete lunatic for writing the 2 posts about Force India.
Surely, thousands of F1 fans and mini pundits cant be completely wrong.
Rooney John,
You can think what you like and forums can write what they want. This is my view and I don’ care. It is not about di Resta being bad, it is not about Liuzzi being good or bad, it is about ethics, or rather the lack of them. If thousands of people cannot understand this point then, yes, they can all be wrong.
Considering the FIF1/McLaren/Mercedes deal as indicated in the reportage of the original agreement indicated everything was rolled into the same price, I’m disappointed to read that there were price increases at Mercedes. I can’t blame Vijay for trying to avoid such increases as there was no indication that there would be any in the life of the agreement. It also indicates that there has been rather more hurly-burly than was previously reported (which was already rather substantial).
Also, Paul may have been beaten in a lot of practise sessions, but in several of them it took an almightly low-tanks effort from Tonio (and, sometimes, Adrian) to get past him. It may take time for the qualifying times to come to Paul, but he should be fine in the races.
Alianora La Canta,
Says who?
Joe,
I must warn You, that by writing all these Pro-One-Specific Driver-sentences You are rapidly losing credibility as a F1 journalist and I now pronounce your blog second-rate to, for example, James Allen’s one. I am really sad to write it, because I used to appreciate your journalism. Now I am sick of it.
regards
Tomasz,
As with a number of other readers you are confusing issues here. It is not about Liuzzi, it is about ethics. As to calling this blog second-rate I hope that such a rude statement is simply because you do not fully understand the meaning of the expression.
Having spent the last few years boring anyone who would listen to me about Paul di Resta I am delighted he has finally been given the drive he deserves. Quite how someone can take a championship from a team mate and that team mate can be world champion before the driver who beat him starts a race is beyond me. Makes you wonder about the people who sign drivers for F1 teams.
It’s just a shame that Hulkenburg didn’t get the other seat. The prospect of those two racing each other to prove who is better is mouthwatering.
While Liuzzi has lost out on this I think Sutil will be feeling more uncomfortable today now that he has two top notch young drivers to prove himself against. Every time he makes a little mistake he is going to feel the weight on his shoulders grow heavier.
Tomasz,
I think Joe simply dares to sometimes NOT be impartial, and that’s only when writing about things he really cares a lot about, mostly concerning basic ethic principles – at least that’s my impression.
Regarding journalistic rules, this would maybe be misplaced in factual reports, but this is, after all, a personal blog, so if you don’t like his opinions I think you should, with all due respect, just bugger off. This is a free service, so I think as a reader commenting on the blog one should behave like a guest – if you don’t like what’s being served, be polite but maybe you’ll avoid returning.
I’m thankful for Joe’s opinions because there are enough sites out there with boring and impartial reports. James Allen’s blog is ok, but it’s a bit like … do you know the saying about the commonality between pizza and sex? Better to have at least some of it, even if it’s mediocre, than having none at all …
With James Allen I get the impression he’d just as well put out some cool factual reviews about machines squeezing juice out of lovely kittens – if the money’s right and if he can do it from his sofa. That’s exaggerating of course, but I just try to make a point here …
Last but not least, your own comment is quite a bit more one-sided and offending than anything Joe has ever posted here.
Joe, since the BBC announced they were shutting down the 606 website for F1 comments, I wondered where all the nah-nah-nah-nah-nah fanboys would go and it seems they are here. Very sad – I usually come here to read informed comment (from blog owner and contributors alike). Keep up the good work – this fan for one appreciates it.
For what it is worth, I think the way Liuzzi was treated stinks. Has he had a fair crack of the whip? No – he got dicked around by Red Bull and nowadays we’re all laughing about HRT and their driver revolving door. I suppose Sutil was always going to stay as he is the FI pay driver. Or to argue conjecturally, a good pay-driver. Kind of like Petrov. As opposed to non-good pay driver like Yamamoto.
So let’s see what happens – Liuzzi problems, the story of two Lotuses. Too much excitement and the season has not yet started.
It’s an unsurprising announcement, but -I agree with Joe- a political one. Putting a DTM driver in doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Who was he racing? DC? I can only think of Paffet and Green… Both F3 champs, but broken careers by DTM.
Hulkenberg would have been the most logical choice, he has the best CV and even a f1 pole. Because -Joe, let’s be honest please- why would you retain a driver who is equal -or statistically even less- to Adrian ‘only happy when it rains’ Sutil?
Btw. I appreciate reading this blog. A lot.
Soeren,
Spot on! Well said.
di Resta may have only finished ahead of Liuzzi once but in a number of sessions he was comfortably ahead when after a pit stop his car was suddenly unable to do the same times. I say this as someone who remembers Paul’s father racing in Scottish FFord and who watched every FP1 session with a very close eye on his times.
Tomasz,
James Allen’s website is very good but he is definately part of the F1 establishment and will tow the political line on controversial issues. At least Joe is a truly independent reporter and gives an independent opinion whether you agree with it or not.
Liuzzi’s talent (in my opinion, just thought I’d clear that up) is about on par with Fisichella. This means that he is most definitely good enough to be in F1 on merit but not enough to win the championship. This is the type of driver that gets a 2nd seat in a top team (e.g. Fisi at Renault) or main/equal driver in a middle-tier team.
So that means that at Force India, Liuzzi was ok to be there on talent, which means that the breaking of his contract is the problem. But the unanswerable question (by anyone who hasn’t seen the contract) is what were the out-clauses. From what we’ve heard at Liuzzi’s end, there were no valid out-clauses that Force India could use to punt him from the seat – so they’ve either found one, broken the contract or come to some other arrangement to end the contract.
In the first case has happened, then there’ll be much complaining from Liuzzi’s camp and Force India will sit there happily. In the second case, there will be even more complaining from Liuzzi’s camp followed by legal action and Force India will either keep quiet or come out with a ridiculous bluff. In the third case, Liuzzi will appear in sports cars or DTM with a brand new watch and car and not want to talk about Force India for a few years.
That’s only speculation based on previous observations but let’s wait and see what happens next.
Joe, I don’t always agree with what you write but this is a blog. Your blog and I think it’s one of the top F1 blogs out there.
Frankly, I’d stop reading if all you wrote about were rainbows and bubble gum. Keep it up!
BTW, I feel bad for Liuzzi but that’s life in F1. If Liuzzi had to go, I’d rather see Hulk get a shot. Just my two cents…
I wish Williams was able to keep Hulkenburg or at least that he can go to a good team…I’m not too keen on Force India.
No one is forcing Tomasz to be here…but please don’t spoil it for the rest of us who enjoys this blog.
As someone who has followed Pauls career from the very early days, I’m confident he will raise more than a few eyebrows in F1 this year, and beyond.
This lack of single seater race experience in recent years needs to be balanced against the fact that he has been racing hard & fast in DTM, finally winning the title last year.
During this time he has developed an excellent relationship with Mercedes and a good understanding of how they work, as well as taking part in a competitive, well supported, international racing series.
This should be seen in a positive light. He’s been consistently racing at the highest level for the last few years, and it’s not like a DTM car is just a Merc with some fancy wheels. These are serious machines.
Balance this against maybe tooling around in a non-fancied GP2 team, struggling for both performance and budget, and suddenly DTM starts to make sense.
The guy has now got his chance. And has proven himself to be a racer, a finisher, a points scorer, and a championship winner.
How many of the other F1 ‘newbies’ in the current grid can boast such a pedigree? Precious few.
The fact that he’s come from DTM, apparently against Bernies wishes that anyone should, is also a good thing. It proves to up & coming drivers that even in this era, there’s still more than one way to get into F1.
Liuzzi may well have got the rough end of the stick, but F1 has always been a dog-eat-dog world, and will remain so.
Sorry but I don’t understand why you’re introducing a new F1 driver in such a negative way.
The other article about Liuzzi was about ethics I understand that, but is it ethical to kick the new driver in the teeth because the old driver has been mistreated by the team?
The fact is that ending Liuzzi’s contract is going to cost them quite a bit and they wouldn’t put Di Resta in the seat and pay the money if they didn’t see talent.
I can tell you’re incensed by the treatment of Liuzzi but is that Di Resta’s fault?
Martin,
I am not kicking di Resta in the teeth at all. I am merely pointing out that five years in touring car racing is not the best preparation for an F1 career – and anyone who thinks it is needs to have their head examined. I hope that di Resta does well, just as I hope that all good young drivers achieve their ambitions. What I really hate it seeing great talent wasted.
First of all it’s Joe’s blog, he can write whatever he wants. Quite frankly, that’s why I’m reading this blog in the first place – to learn what Joe is thinking.
To agree or not to agree is completely irrelevant here. The only relevant discussion would be about a factual error made by Joe (e.g. Joe mentioning Goodyear as the new tyre supplier for 2011). Other than that, we’re just here for the ride!
I haven’t read any factual error by Joe on the Jordan (sorry, Force India) – Liuzzi situation and I don’t expect one either.
As for Liuzzi, I sincerely hope that he wasn’t naive enough to think his 2011 seat was save. His stint with STR ended rather abruptly as well so he should have learned from that.
Joe makes a valid point about ethics. But this is Formula 1, in which ethics and morality are like a Ferrari V12: desirable but unrealistic. All of this has happened before (e.g. ‘Puppo’ Moreno getting the boot at Benetton to make way for a certain Michael Schumacher) and will probably happen again.
So, what’s next? Well, either Liuzzi c.s. will ‘cry wolf’ very shortly or they won’t, in which case I expect to see him announced at Ferrari as a test driver. An HRT drive is not going to happen for Liuzzi, as he simply lacks the necessary funding to pay for that seat .
F1 has a long and noble tradition of wasting great talent, and it will continue to do so.
I can remember back in the day when Stefano Modena was being touted as the next ‘guy who’s gonna be the guy’ for a long time, and countless others both before and since.
F1 has never been and never will be a meritocracy. If you’ve got the $, you get the seat, particularly at the lower end of the grid.
Many drivers over the years have had the skill and determination needed to make it to the top in F1, but have never had the time to fulfill their potential.
And equally, many drivers have had long, though largely undistinguished careers in F1 because their face fitted, or they brought the $ to the team.
There are no shortage of people who have the potential to be competitive in F1, but there will always be a shortage of seats and an even greater shortage of seats worth having.
Politics + cash have never been known to lose out in the grand prix paddock, they beat youth + pace every time.
Is DTM good preparation for F1? Who knows, but we’ll find out soon enough. I’m, perhaps naively, a believer that a good racer is a good racer, and talent will out.
F1 can stymie that of course, in the wrong car the best in the world can look average (Button in a BAR/Honda anyone?), but it was ever thus.
Rooney John Tomasz
Joes blog is easily the best available, look at the amount of work produced, we get to read a huge amount of top quality journalism free of charge from one of the worlds top f1 writers. There is no better resource for the committed F1 fan and I would be very sorry to see it go.
If you don’t agree with something Joe says then say so but do it in a polite way, show that you have a basic grasp of the subject, don’t insult the man and for god’s sake show some bloody respect will you! Joe has forgotten more about F1 than you will ever know if you don’t like being privvy to his personal thoughts on his personal blog then go somewhere else.
No question about it: DTM is very different from F1.
The last driver who made the switch from DTM to F1 was Christijan Albers. Like Di Resta, he was a Formula 3 champion (and back then regarded as a major talent) and he was a multiple race winner in DTM for several years (and vice champion in 2003). In Formula One he had a very hard time and not only because he drove for Minardi and Spyker.
And to see how different it is, we only have to remember how difficult the switch to DTM was for former F1 frontrunners like Ralf Schumacher – who has been struggling for 3 years – and David Coulthard.
I hope Di Resta will be a smash hit in F1. But Liuzzi would almost certainly do better.
DTM and F1 are very different.
But, at the risk of sounding a bit ‘fanboy’, I think Di Resta is capable of making the switch.
He’s spent enough time both with the team and in the cockpit at Force India to not be starting cold. At 24 he’ll have a level of maturity which should enable him to concentrate on getting the job done, rather than trying to be the best thing since sliced bread in the 1st half of his 1st season.
Importantly, he also has strong backing from Mercedes and a close relationship with Norbert Haug. Both of which will add to an overall sense of calmness and, to at least an extent, lessen the pressure to try and make an instant impact.
Which ironically may well lead to him doing just that. Feeling relaxed about yourself and your place in the overall scheme of things is no bad thing in the super-pressurised environs of F1, and especially so for a new boy.
The switch to F1 from any other discipline is hard, but everyone gets a learning year. It’s up to him to make the most of that. At the end of the day, results are results, and we will all have a better picture at the end of the year.
It’s interesting to note the relative lack of impact made by ex-F1 drivers moving down to DTM though – (with some honourable exceptions). Can’t help thinking that once you’ve spent a few years with F1 levels of downforce, power, grip and braking it’s tricky trying to wring the last few tenths out of a slightly more recalcitrant car. Not to mention that the DTM regulars are quick. Very quick.
Is the switch up the way do-able in these modern times? Who knows, but for the sake of the sport as much as anything, I hope so.
And this year I guess we’ll find out one way or the other.
Joe, I also enjoy your blog, but I don’t understand why you’re dissing Paul di Resta. Mercedes wouldn’t be backing him without good reason and he has beaten some very good people in single seaters (including Vettel). I think he’ll shine.
Meanwhile its hard to say that Liuzzi’s F1 career has been anything other than a disappointment. Maybe there have been factors out of his control, maybe he doesn’t work well with teams I don’t know. But having dominated F3000, he’s now been ditched by two very much mid-field teams. There must be a reason for that.
Luciano,
Who is dissing di Resta? If you read it properly you will see that I am quite happy that he is getting a chance, but I am cautious about him having spent five years not racing single-seaters. I think that is entirely reasonable. The people I am dissing are the management of Force India.
I wish Di Resta well – the first time my home city has had a Grand Prix driver of its own. And I must confess, I’ve never entirely shared Joe’s view of Liuzzi’s ultimate potential (but I’m not privy to what was going on at Force India this year – perhaps his equipment wasn’t the equal of Sutil’s). Any which way, though, this is one of a small handful of blogs/websites I always read because its both informative and very well written. I hope a few rude commenters don’t put you off…
By the by… Modena? A lost talent? Maybe, it was a very long time ago now, but from what I recall, he could be quick on his day but he was pretty inconsistent. Everyone remembers the Monaco podium in the Brabham in ’89 but his team mate was comfortable quicker and would have claimed that podium had it not been for losing a lot of time in the pits having a battery replaced