Force India say they expect to confirm the identity of Paul di Resta’s team mate before the second test of the year in Barcelona.
Force India are one of three teams yet to finalise their driver line-ups four days ahead of the start of testing.
Speaking at the launch of the VJM06 deputy team principal Bob Fearnley said: “The shareholders will make their decision in due course. We need to be very careful where we are going, and the shareholders will take as long as necessary.
“I expect we will announce the two remaining drivers before Barcelona.”
Jules Bianchi and Adrian Sutil are believed to be the two drivers in the running for the seat.
Fearnley added he expects the team to start the season as competitively as it ended 2013: “I like to think that we can start where we finished, it would be very nice to lead a few races, but perhaps that is a bit optimistic.
“We should certainly be looking at knocking on the door for podium positions again. That would finish off our five-year programme perfectly before we go into the new regulations in 2014.”
2013 F1 season
- Mercedes originally favoured Heidfeld for Hamilton’s seat
- Take F1 Fanatic’s new 2013 season quiz
- F1 Fanatic’s new year thanks and credits 2014
- The complete F1 Fanatic 2013 season review
- The drivers, teams and cars of 2013
Browse all 2013 F1 season articles
Image ?? Force India
Tyler (@tdog)
1st February 2013, 12:10
Does that mean Di Resta is not confirmed?
Tyler (@tdog)
1st February 2013, 12:11
Ah, third driver…..
Ilanin (@ilanin)
1st February 2013, 12:11
Two remaining drivers. Di Resta’s team-mate and the reserve driver.
Chris (@tophercheese21)
1st February 2013, 12:25
I hope Alguersuari is the driver.
Miss seeing him in the car.
David-A (@david-a)
1st February 2013, 15:39
Meh, I never saw what was so great about him in the STR. Buemi outscored him in 2/3 seasons and outqualified him most of the time. They should probably give the rookie Bianchi a chance, or go back to the experienced Sutil.
surya
1st February 2013, 16:48
There s another driver whose going to take part in jerz test for SaharaForceIndia , James Rossiter 29 yrs British driver, Simulator Tester for SaharaForceIndia
Force Maikel (@force-maikel)
1st February 2013, 12:29
Well Sutil seems to be out of the picture, I didn’t see Medion sponsoring on the car. That could be a small indication.
electrolite (@electrolite)
1st February 2013, 12:34
They wouldn’t put it on the car until he was confirmed, though, surely?
Force Maikel (@force-maikel)
1st February 2013, 12:47
Don’t know, I haven’t seen a situation like this in some years.
BasCB (@bascb)
1st February 2013, 16:28
As @electrolite writes, they wouldn’t put a sponsor on the car until the deals are signed. Teams often leave space holders like team names/logos or driver names on the car to stop it from looking empty while awaiting a sponsor deal (see the way GenII and Kimi are on the Lotus in red space undoubtedly reserved for Honeywell, if that deal does get signed)
dennis (@dennis)
1st February 2013, 13:43
Good thing the article says that they mean the second TEST. Because the way things going, I was actually wondering if they meant the GP of Barcelona.
Michael Brown (@)
1st February 2013, 13:49
So Di Resta has been confirmed then?
Timothy Katz (@timothykatz)
1st February 2013, 13:54
In a way, I’m rather surprised he has been. But it would have been a bit weird to unveil the car . . . without any drivers.
verstappen (@verstappen)
2nd February 2013, 21:59
Yeah but since they speak about remaining drivers it would be very nasty if they suddenly demoted DiResta to third driver.
matt90 (@matt90)
1st February 2013, 14:02
“I expect we will announce the two remaining drivers before Barcelona.”
At this rate I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘Barcelona’ meant the GP rather than testing.
Enigma (@enigma)
1st February 2013, 17:09
:)
plutoniumhunter (@plutoniumhunter)
1st February 2013, 20:06
So… I assume the Stig drives for them in the meantime? ;)
Raz
1st February 2013, 14:34
I guess they have not announced the other 2 drivers may be they are confused who ll race n who ll be Reserve!!! Sutil has not raced for a year n Bianci is new to F1!!!! thts why they have used “The shareholders will make their decision in due course” sentence and of course the money they bring!
Fernando Cruz
1st February 2013, 17:00
That is why Senna should be considered for the seat! Senna raced only in 8 races with Lotus, he was fast in qualifying but entering only at the 12th GP he could not be consistent in races. In Williams he had a full season and proved fast and consistent in races. He was poor in qualifying because he lost 15 FP1 and had tyres not suiting his style (like Jenson Button). Any driver racing with Williams in 2012 alongside Maldonado would be dropped, as Bottas had been prepared to race in 2013 and had Toto Wolff with a big role in the team. Yes, Force India needs someone to replace Hulkenberg but there is no available driver at the same level, unless we think they can hire Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton or Raikkonen. Among the drivers who are available Senna will do the best job, surely better than a driver that was out for a year (Sutil) or another that never raced in F1 and never impressed that much in junior series (Bianchi).
davidnotcoulthard
2nd February 2013, 7:17
R.Frijns, anyone?
AbeyG (@1abe)
1st February 2013, 14:49
So it means, the first test will be a competition between potential drivers! Thats weird..but interesting!!
Jon Cooper
1st February 2013, 22:50
It is going to be Bruno Senna, as accidentally revealed by PDR on Twitter (before quickly being deleted)
https://twitter.com/nismoroger/status/297323188067659776/photo/1
MagillaGorilla (@magillagorilla)
1st February 2013, 23:41
I rather not see either of the two make it in, but that’s just me.
raz
2nd February 2013, 6:30
Here are my views to be honest I didn’t personally like Senna last season….I think Williams lost of points due to there drivers.Maldonado in my view is a very talented driver with lot of immaturity shown in the last season and same goes to Senna ….I personally feel Maldonado more talented than Senna and both are very immature ….Even Diresta is not a great driver (Less talented than Maldonado)but he has a level head on his shoulders thts y those valuable points for team worth Billions of Dollars!!!!same goes with Sutil….Thts why Ferrari always reluctant to give race seats to young guys no matter how talented they are…And also the lots of fuss when Mclearen took Sergio when evry one thought Hulk was a better choice purely because of his maturity!!!
davidnotcoulthard
2nd February 2013, 7:20
Speaking of Sergio, will he be the 2nd James Hunt, minus the cigar?
Fernando Cruz
2nd February 2013, 23:10
Maldonado was immature but improved since Monza. Senna was not immature, he simply could not qualify well and that is why he scored a lot less points than he should. But a immature driver wouldn’t have scored 10 times while a very fast team mate could only score in 5 races, despite being in the team already for a year…
Maldonado is certainly more talented than Senna in the closing moments of Q2, when often everything is decided and also in Q3. In race craft Senna is more talented than Maldonado. Overall I’ d put Maldonado above Senna just because qualifying is crucial. Senna can improve his qualifying form (with 2013 tyres and the same amount of track time of others) but will never be as fast as Maldonado, just like a Button will never be as fast as a Hamilton.