Zoom All confirmed for the 2009 season

Force India boss Vijay Mallya has ended mounting speculation about the team's 2009 driver line-up.

Mere days after saying Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil were not guaranteed their seats for next year, Mallya confirmed the pair as the team's ongoing drivers.

In an official communiqué, the Silverstone-based team also said Tonio Liuzzi is staying put as test and reserve driver.

Last Friday, Mallya said he would 'discuss' the issue of drivers with the team's new technical partner McLaren, intensifying speculation that Pedro de la Rosa, Gary Paffett or Paul di Resta might be drafted in.

But he now says: "We certainly welcomed the insight and advice of our new partners in this matter, however the choice was entirely ours based on the current talent available in the market today."

"In Giancarlo, Adrian and Tonio we have a wonderful balance between experience and ambition and now complete consistency."

Full statement
The Force India Formula One Team is pleased to confirm an unchanged driver line-up for the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship. Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil will continue as race drivers, with Vitantonio Liuzzi also retained as the official test and reserve driver to give complete driver continuity for Force India’s second season of competition.

Thirty-five year-old Fisichella returned to the Silverstone-based outfit for the 2008 season, while 25-year-old Sutil started his Formula 1 career with the team in 2006 as a test driver before stepping up to the race seat in 2007. Liuzzi, 27, fulfilled the test and reserve role in 2008.

Dr Vijay Mallya commented, ‘I firmly believe that next year will be a huge opportunity for this team. We have a new technical partnership with McLaren and Mercedes, a dynamic new management structure and now one of the most solid driver line-ups on the grid. We certainly welcomed the insight and advice of our new partners in this matter, however the choice was entirely ours based on the current talent available in the market today. In Giancarlo, Adrian and Tonio we have a wonderful balance between experience and ambition and now complete consistency.’

E.A, Source: GMM
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