Mallya shows interest in Bruno Senna

Vijay Mallya admitted a particular interest in Bruno Senna, a GP2 driver in 2008 who narrowly missed being on the starting grid of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

At the age of 25, the nephew of the great Ayrton Senna was the favorite for a racing seat alongside Jenson Button in 2009, until Ross Brawn finalized the purchase of the former Honda team. He then opted for the experience of Rubens Barrichello to complete the driver lineup of his Brawn GP team.

The Indian billionaire Mallya, owner and director of the Force India team, reportedly considered changing a driver in 2009 for a few weeks. In the end, he opted for stability by retaining Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil.

« There have been too many changes within the team itself for me to also change the drivers, » he declared Sunday to the British newspaper The Observer.

« I wanted to maintain a certain stability and continuity, » explained Mallya.

But he indicates that a change next year is possible given that Fisichella is nearing the end of his career as he is now 36 years old.

« I know that Giancarlo will soon reach the end of his career. It is possible that next year there will be a line to join our team. »

« There are young people waiting for a spot to open up. One of them is Bruno Senna. We all thought he would be signed by Brawn GP, but they ultimately chose Barrichello. We will look into the young talents at the right time, » he added.