Force India keep Sutil and Liuzzi for 2010

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Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi keep their Force India drives for 2010

Force India once talked about getting an Indian racer in one of their cars but it won’t happen next year: they’ve decided to start 2010 with the same two drivers they ended 2009 with.

Adrian Sutil will start his fourth season as an F1 racer and continue his run of starting every race for Force India.

And Vitantonio Liuzzi will pick up where he left off having started the last five races for the team this year.

Force India are the fifth team to confirm their full line-up for next year, joining McLaren, Ferrari, Williams and Red Bull. The latter are the only other team so far to have retained their end-of-2009 driver pairing for next year.

Liuzzi had been tipped to race for the team in 2010 even before he took Giancarlo Fisichella’s place following this year’s Belgian Grand Prix.

So far Liuzzi is the only Italian driver confirmed on the grid for next year, with Fisichella confined to a Ferrari test role and Jarno Trulli facing life without Toyota. But Trulli is rumoured to be considering a drive at Lotus.

Sutil is the fifth German driver to be confirmed on the 2010 grid. The only German driver on the grid this year not yet confirmed for 2010 is Nick Heidfeld, who is tipped to join Nico Rosberg at Mercedes.

Have Force India picked the best line-up available to them? Does it matter if they don’t put an Indian driver in their car? Have your say in the comments.

Sutil and Liuzzi stay at Force India

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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28 comments on “Force India keep Sutil and Liuzzi for 2010”

  1. continue his run of starting every race for Force India

    keith, Sutil drove for Spyker in 2007 (yes i know, same ‘team’)…

    1. Yes, every race Force India has been in, Sutil has driven for them.

      1. technically it could mean both. ha

  2. Good decision by Force India. The team has made clear progress since their debut season and as Mallya has said the stability of the same drivers wil help them move forward. Liuzzi is fast and just needed a little bit more luck to score some points in his races last season, and Sutil is potentially brilliant but needs to stay out of trouble and getting involved in crashes every race!

    1. Well, with Kimi Raikkonen not being on the grid for next year Sutil will at very least have to find somebody else to have accidents with.

      Maybe Trulli.

  3. Mike "the bike" Schumacher
    27th November 2009, 22:42

    If Air Force 1ndia want to go one better than last year and win than they need better drivers.

  4. I hope FI build on this year’s success and whilst they need better drivers, 2010 could be the year to attract them.

  5. F. India will do quite well next year methinks…

  6. F. India dose not need to put an Indian driver in anymore than USF1 needs to put an American in. What they need is the best driver they can get.

    1. Isn’t it ironic that the Indian team is testing an American driver next month….anyone think Chandhok is lined up for a USF1 seat? ;)

  7. Good to see that Force India had kept their faith on the same driver’s line up.

  8. No point putting an Indian in if he’s not they’re best available option. I also think Liuzzi was too hastily dropped by torro rosso and deserves another a shot at a full season.

    1. Agree Jim.
      I think this is a key season for Tonio: he made some great races in the past, now he has again the chance to show his value through a whole season.

  9. Good that they have the same driver now they can concerate on the 2010 car

  10. No, it doesn’t matter if an Indian is in the car or not. And yes!…FI will create stability and continuety by retaining the same drivers. Good decision on VJM’s part. They won’t win the WC next season, but they will score points regularly. (My prediction)

  11. They should get some points next year – hopefully more than five – but if they do, I reckon they’ll all come from Sutil

    My prediction

    1. I’d lean towards saying that for Force India to score points will require a degree of luck, making either driver as likely a candidate.

      1. Agree with you, epi.

  12. Force India will score 15 points next year.

  13. Keith, no mention of Paul di Resta or JR Hildebrand testing for Force India in December?

    F1 fans are well aware of di Resta, and with very good reason, but Hildebrand is going to show what he can do…and many of you may be quite a bit suprised ;)

  14. I think Force India have Better car compared to this year.

    This is what Adrian Sutil said after confirmation of the news
    “Next season I want to be in the points on a regular basis, maybe even challenging for the podium, and the team has exactly the same goals.”
    “We are going massively in the right direction so with our combined energies I’m confident we can achieve even more than last season.”

    So I hope we will have another team consistently fighting in the midfield for pts.

  15. It is good for stability at the team to have kept Sutil and Liuzzi.

    It could be a key year for both drivers as Liuzzi will be out to prove that Toro Rosso dropped him too quickly and for Sutil it will be his fourth season in F1 and he will have to start delivering on the potential which some people think he has if he wants a chance with a top team, and cut out some of the mistakes he has been criticised for this year.

    As for Force India it will be the second year of their technical partnership with McLaren, I think they should do better overall than this year points wise but a pole and genuinely challenging for a victory again may be unlikely.

  16. I hope they carry on making a low drag speed demon of a machine, watching the replays of Spa seeing Sutil’s car out performing a the williams is wonderful to watch.

  17. a bit off topic guys but Kubica can join Mercedes GP next season if Renault does nod in affirmative for their f1 contract…………

    it shud be good

  18. I dunno. I still think Sutil is way overrated & that FI would be better off to put someone else in that seat – although not necessarily an Indian driver. I’m glad Tonio got the nod though, he was streets ahead of Klein when they shared the RBR seat, and I thought he was dropped by Torro Rosso unfairly. Although tbh, its looking like Torro Rosso did him a favour in that regard.

  19. Liuzzi can use another ride, I hope he makes the most of it.

    Forza Tonio.

  20. I can’t help but feel Sutil deserves more of a break, no offence to Force India. I hope the Force India rumours about struggling finances are untrue, and they are able to make good strides to a constant midfield positioning…

  21. Good move to continue with experience next year. Technically speaking, Force India should be the 6th best team on the grid next year. USF1, Lotus, Campos, Manor (and Sauber/Stefan…?) are all new and unlikely to set the world alight next year. So thats 5 of the 12(/13) teams out the way, so Force India would be the 8th best team at least.

    Then factor out Williams who will be using Cosworth engines, which were never brilliant in their hey day anyway, and they’re very fuel thirsty, meaning the cars will have to be very heavy with fuel. So unless Williams have a killer aero package next year, thats them out. Meaning Force India would be 7th, at least.

    And finally there is Toro Rosso, who in 2010 will be a constructor in their own right, having to develop their own parts and cars rather than getting hand-me-downs from the big sister Red Bull. I dont expect Toro Rosso to get it dead on in their first season alone.

    So, actually, Force India could be the 6th best team next year. Not bad considering they were the worst of bunch last year and the year before…!

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