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Home  » Sports » Fisichella eyes Force India seat

Fisichella eyes Force India seat

Source: PTI
December 15, 2007 20:00 IST
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Renault discard Giancarlo Fisichella and young Spaniard Roldan Rodriguez are both eyeing a seat with Force India for the 2008 season.

Both the drivers -- along with Ralf Schumacher, Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Franck Montagny and Giedo van der Garde -- tested for the Formula One team part-owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

Fisichella, winner of three Formula One races, did not hide his disappointment at Renault's snub but asserted driving for Force India would not be settling for lesser honour.

"I think I still deserve a place in Formula 1," the 34-year-old driver told Italian magazine Autosprint.

"My goal is to race with Force India  I do not see Force India as a fallback, but a new phase of my career," he said.

"I know Force India seems difficult when you consider fighting for the last places, but I believe in the potential of this team. They told me they would prefer to have an experienced driver next to [Adrian] Sutil, and I am ready.

"I have signed an option with them and will have an answer before Christmas," said the driver, who had raced twice for the team, which was then known as Jordan.

"I would have expected more consideration by Renault. In three years I have helped the team to victories," he added.

Rodriguez too is fancying his chances with Team India and has applied for an F1 superlicence.

Apart from his skills behind the wheels, the youngster also enjoys a sponsor's backing worth USD 15 million, which might tilt the balance in his favour.

"All of them are very good - they would all bring different strengths to the team," Mallya said, adding that the team would announce its driver line-up by the end of this month.

"Clearly we have Sutil on the one side and I need to make sure that the driver in the other car is able to raise the bar, so that both drivers keep raising the standard of performance all the time and help the engineering team along," he added.

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