Images from Jerez, Spain, 1 March 2009

Force India Livery – First Pics

These are the legal pictures of FIF1 as I got permission to use the media center. Thanks FIF1 team.

Surprise sponsor was ICICI and all the rumors about Reliance Industries and ONGC to be sponsors were proven wrong.

Force India F1 to launch new livery today, it can be seen live online on www.forceindiaf1.com at 1900 HRS IST. It’s a disappointment not to have any Indian Driver, but surly we will be cheering got F1F1. There are rumors of Michael Schumacher and Bernie Ecclestone to be present for the event. There is also curiosity also the Indian brands that will be sponsoring FIF1, finally we will find out the who all other than Mr. Mallya believe that F1 can be used as brand ambassador.

I will try live blogging today if the show is aired on TV.

Happy New Year to all the readers!

First news of the year if from Kingfisher Airlines, they have ended the contract with Toyota Motorsport GmbH one year early. This definitely is a good sign for Force India F1 as most probably the sponsorship will move to FIF1.

It seems Force India is planning a three way shoot out for driver’s seat for 2008, but the most interesting part is Fisichella and Schumacher who should be fighting for better teams are interested in Force India seat. If Mr. Mallya is planning to give chance to Fisi and Ralf, why can’t he try it out with Narain and Karun Chandhok, they are good drivers and deserve a chance.

Other testers would be Roldan Rodriguez, Giedo van der Garde, Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi…WOW! When was the last time we see so many drivers attached to one team, it’s their first season (not even the start of season) and are causing so much noise in team selection, hope they perform better too. Oops, I missed FIF1 already has a driver, Adrian Sutil, if he is planning to continue.

After leaving McLaren for almost a month, Alonso is yet to decide where he wants to go? Main problems he is facing are

• Renault is under scrutiny for a (yet another) spy scandal and might get hefty punishments similar to McLaren.
• Renault wants him to stay longer than one year, and he does not plan that ( he still believes that he can move to Ferrari next year)
• He does not want to join a team like Toyota which can give him enough money but not a good car. Red Bull also has the same issues.
• BMW/Williams are good option but their driver line-up is ready.

My Idea

Alonso should join Force India F1, I am not saying because I am Indian, but there is a plan. Let’s say Alonso joins FIF1, he can bring with him some good sponsors which can revamp the current bad funding to slightly improved situations. Then he starts the season with a car from back of the grid, but with his technical inputs, flawless driving he can take the car to middle-pack (competing with Toyota, Honda, Red Bull) by mid season, and by end of the season FIF1 might start challenging Williams.

Alonso will have double advantage doing this, He can gain his reputation as the (one of) best drivers in pack today with his shear brilliant driving and by the end of season people will forget about his cry-baby/jealous attitude. Second, Alonso will not be getting any competition from second driver whoever he might be (Rodriguez, Karthikeyan, Luizzi or Chandhok).

Take the worst team and by end of year make it really competitive, what a year it would be, he will make more fans than ever. Yeah it is a risk, but what is easy in formula1. He would be first person is formula one to be a hero without winning a single race.

Alonso’s options discussed :Renault, BMW, Red Bull, Williams, Toyota

Force India will appear first time on track 13th Nov to 15th Nov.
Testing team includes Roldan Rodriguez, Giedo van der Garde, Adrian Sutil, Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi. Rodriguez and Garde will test on Tuesday and Wednesday while Klien and Liuzzi will test on Thursday.

Karthikeyan seems to have missed the chance as Williams has already announced their line-up and Force India seems not too keen on Indian driver. Good news for Indian supporters is Karun Chandok is testing for Red Bull this winter and might get a test driver seat.