FI announces long line up of drivers for test

A return for Ralf...
By Karl King
November 28 2007

Force India today announced its line up of drivers to be tested at the upcoming December test. It sees F1 veterans Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella returning to the team they both raced for under its previous 'Jordan' guise. As expected ex-F1 driver Franck Montagny will also make his return to a Formula 1 cockpit with the team.

The second day will see ex-Red Bull proteges Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi continuing their running with the team from the November tests, Luizzi commenting "everyone is very professional, there's a good atmosphere and I think a lot of potential."

The final day will see team-regulars Roldan Rodriguez and Giedo van der Garde running in the burgundy and white car.

The biggest news then, if not at all surprising, is probably the announcement that Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella will be testing for the team where they were teammates in 1997.

Fisi, who has had two spells with the Silverstone-based outfit under Eddie Jordan, in 1997 alongside Ralf and also in 2002 and 2003 during which he won the Brazilian GP, said that 'whilst no drivers have been officially confirmed by Renault, the team has given me permission to explore other options. I was invited to test with Force India F1 Team at Jerez and I was very happy to accept it.' 

Ralf, who has connections with team owner Vijay Mallya through his sponsorship of Toyota said, 'I have known Vijay for many years over my time with Toyota. I fully understand his passion for the sport and know that he will put this drive into Force India to make it a success.

'For any driver, driving for a young dynamic team with high ambitions is a good opportunity, but at the moment it is just one test to see how we get on working together, and whether this is possible. I think I can help the team with its development programme but we will see.'

Fisichella and Montagny are to open the test on Tuesday 4 December where they will be driving the b-spec Spyker F8-VII.