Force India will make a major move up the
Formula 1 grid in 2009 – that is the bold assertion of the outfit's chairman and managing director Dr Vijay Mallya.
Having bought out the former Jordan/Midland F1/Spyker concern towards the end of the 2007 season, the first Indian entry in the top flight's 58-year history promised great things, but has thus far failed to deliver, with neither the experienced
Giancarlo Fisichella nor the highly-rated
Adrian Sutil escaping the Q1 qualifying drop or troubling the scorers over the opening nine grands prix of the 2008 campaign.
The closest the Silverstone-based squad came was when an inspired Sutil ran in fourth place in the closing laps of the Monaco Grand Prix back in May, only to be heartbreakingly and unceremoniously removed from contention by the out-of-control
Ferrari of defending
F1 World Champion
Kimi Raikkonen just eight laps from home, almost within sight of the chequered flag.
Mallya has sought to underline that miracles do not happen overnight, however, and insists his team will make its nation proud next year.
“Of course we need to now show better and get better results,” the billionaire Kingfisher Airline chairman told
Arabian Business, “but it has only been six months since we took over, so what can you expect?
“Ferrari didn't win a world championship for years until
Michael Schumacher came along in 1996, and even then it took three or four years to win. People can't expect miracles from me in one season, but I'm getting there, and I'm showing that I'm inching forward.
“Our real focus is on 2009; I'm absolutely determined that in 2009, we'll have some reason to be proud. Trust me, I'm putting my heart, soul, money and a lot more into 2009, and I intend to be right there.
“The way we look at it, India hasn't qualified for the Olympic Games hockey, and in football we didn't qualify for the World Cup.
“Here we have an Indian team that's actually racing in the world championship. That itself is an honour, to fly the Indian standard at one of the top flight levels of the sport.”
