Second Force India driver: talent over money
While they still need to officially announce their drivers for 2013, and especially someone to replace Hülkenberg, Force India claims that it is not the financial factor that will make the difference, but rather talent.
Force India must find a replacement for Nico Hülkenberg who will join Sauber in 2013, a choice that should be made in the coming weeks: “We will announce everything in a few weeks. We have a shortlist of candidates now,” reports Otmar Szafnauer, the team’s operations director, to our colleagues at Autosport.
The names of Sébastien Buemi, Kamui Kobayashi, Bruno Senna, and even Adrian Sutil are being mentioned to support Paul di Resta, who should logically continue to defend the colors of the team based in Silverstone next year, not to forget Jules Bianchi, the current third driver, who is also in the running.
But Otmar Szafnauer emphasizes that it is the talent of the different candidates that will make the difference, not the size of their briefcase. For Szafnauer, nothing beats healthy competition among teammates to push everyone upward: « I think you need that. You may think you’re driving at your best level, but there’s nothing like competition to really sharpen your focus and skills. If you are faced with competition, you drive better. »
If Force India can afford to favor pure talent without worrying too much about the financial backing of their future driver, it’s also because they have received assurance of an increase in their resources by about 60 million euros for the 2013 F1 season. This will allow them to invest in new technologies, as most of the tools currently available to the team date back to the Jordan era.
« If we look at our 2012 season, we can be very proud. We scored more points than in previous seasons, and each year we have shown that we can make progress. We have made significant progress. Considering that most of the tools we have date back to the Jordan era, we’ve done a good job, » comments Vijay Mallya.
