Vijay Mallya says Force India is more than an expensive hobby
He says the team has to improve its performance rapidly and he will personally steer this process. In pics: Geneva Motor Show | Nano in Geneva |Force India F1 team
By Agencies |
BANGKOK: With a collection of 250 classic cars, Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya is no stranger to expensive vehicles.
His latest acquisitions, though, are more than just showpieces. Mallya is hoping his Formula One upstart Force India team can challenge the sport's traditional stalwarts while capitalizing on the potentially lucrative, but largely untapped, market in his native country.
``This is not a hobby, but a very expensive business,'' Mallya said. ``The team is at a critical stage where it has to improve its performance quite rapidly and I'm going to steer this process. And once we are really competitive and able to look at the podium, then maybe I will relax a little bit.''
Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol bought the disbanded Spyker team after last season, hoping to develop it into a serious challenger to powerhouses Ferrari and McLaren by 2010.
The team's new car called VJM01 made its debut last month, finishing ninth out of 19 on the first day of the final winter testing session.
His latest acquisitions, though, are more than just showpieces. Mallya is hoping his Formula One upstart Force India team can challenge the sport's traditional stalwarts while capitalizing on the potentially lucrative, but largely untapped, market in his native country.
``This is not a hobby, but a very expensive business,'' Mallya said. ``The team is at a critical stage where it has to improve its performance quite rapidly and I'm going to steer this process. And once we are really competitive and able to look at the podium, then maybe I will relax a little bit.''
Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol bought the disbanded Spyker team after last season, hoping to develop it into a serious challenger to powerhouses Ferrari and McLaren by 2010.
The team's new car called VJM01 made its debut last month, finishing ninth out of 19 on the first day of the final winter testing session.
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Mallya is ambitious, but not unrealistically so. The brewing mogul comes into the sport having already witnessed how a smaller team can upset F1's establishment, as he was a sponsor of Benetton when Michael Schumacher won the drivers' title in 1994 and 1995.
Mallya, who inherited his family's United Breweries Group and established Kingfisher Airlines, has a distinct Indian focus to the venture that goes far beyond the name change.
He is a driving force behind a proposal for an Indian Grand Prix in 2010, and hopes to one day have a countryman among the team's drivers to further increase the team's appeal to India's burgeoning leisure class, eager to embrace sports like Formula One, golf and tennis.
``F1 and India go together from my perspective,'' Mallya said. ``We have a very young population and F1 is very exciting there are millions and millions of potential fans. That's why I'm here ... because it's not normal that a team brings a whole country behind it. It's quite significant.''
While the team is not expected to challenge for any titles this year, Mallya brought on experienced Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella formerly a race winner with Renault. He will be partnered by Adrian Sutil, a 25-year-old German who did well for the uncompetitive Spyker in 2007, scoring a point in Japan.
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``(Fisichella) was selected with a clear focus experience,'' Mallya said. ``I've given (Sutil) a big brother in Fisichella, and it should give him a lot of motivation.'' Both drivers have put up good performances in winter testing, although Fisichella said the car is ``not as comfortable as I want to be, but it's not too bad.''
``There is a fantastic atmosphere in the team, the guys are very happy and confident to work with me,'' Fisichella said. ``We want to grow up during the season. ... We have a good budget this year that can increase.
``With Vijay wanting to get on the podium as soon as possible, around 2010, we'll see if it's possible. But with Vijay in the team, there is a big shift, even mentally, compared with last year.''
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Meanwhile, Mallya continues his search for an Indian driver, although he passed on both former Jordan pilot Narain Karthikeyan and GP2's Karun Chandhok, who tested with Red Bull in the offseason. ``If I can't find one (Lewis) Hamilton in 1.2 billion people, I'll never find anybody,'' Mallya said. ``A driver I will produce, it might take four to five years, though.''
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And Mallya promised he and his wallet will still be supporting the team by then. ``I always stay the course. Once you get in, you never get out,'' Mallya said. ``We'll fix what needs to be fixed. Especially in F1, I don't think there's anything that can't be fixed.''
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