McLaren not to impose drivers on Force India

McLaren management said they might suggest preferred drivers for their new partner Force India but made it clear that they would never try to impose their will on the Vijay Mallya-owned Formula One outfit.

Force India announced its new ‘ground-breaking partnership’ on Monday which would see the Silverstone-based outfit running on Mercedes engines, using gearbox and hydraulic systems provided by McLaren. Speculation was rife that McLaren might push for the appointment of Paul di Resta and Pedro de la Rosa in place of Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil for the next season.


Speaking to autosport.com, McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh, however, made it clear that everything would be discussed with Force India but it was Mallya who would eventually be calling the shots. “There’s nothing off bounds in this partnership,”
Whitmarsh said, when asked if McLaren would suggest new drivers.

“Vijay has shown a lot of confidence in his commitment and investment in this partnership and us. We’ll sit down and talk about every aspect of the programme, and that extends beyond the process development and the powertrain. We’ve got to work together on all those things,” he said.

“We will make proposals and recommendations that we think are enhancing the prospect of good performance. Vijay is an enormously successful entrepreneur in his own right in many fields, and if he turned all of those attentions to Formula One, he would be an awesome competitor for all of us,” Whitmarsh said.

“The reality is that I suspect he has some staggering business commitments outside of Formula One and he would expect us, as a specialist professional in this field, to make all of the recommendations that are necessary to go forward,” Whitmarsh said.

The McLaren top official also ruled out the possibility of Force India becoming a McLaren B-team. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to be respectful that Force India are a team in their own right. They are a partner, but although there will be a range of strident suggestions and recommendations, his team has to decide. It’s in his hands. It hasn’t been taken over by McLaren. This is an independent team that we happen to be partnering, and I hope that we can bring business benefit to this organisation,” he added.