Mercedes reports ‘just rumor’ – Sutil
10/11/08 (GMM) A Force India chief has admitted the team is on the market to potentially switch engine partners ahead of the 2009 season.
Ian Phillips, the Silverstone based squad's director of business affairs, said current customer supplier Ferrari is being "non-committal" about packaging a KERS system to go with its engine next year.
"Ferrari don't want us to develop our own system, but are being a bit non-committal about whether they are even going to start the season with KERS," he said on BBC's radio Five Live from Fuji Speedway.
"Force India has to build a new car for the new regulations, and can't afford to build a non-KERS car and then have whoever turn around and say that KERS will be available from July or whatever," Phillips added.
He said it is "natural" that Force India, already linked with switches to Honda or Mercedes-Benz, is therefore asking other manufacturers about what they can offer.
10/09/08 (GMM) Team racer Adrian Sutil has dismissed as "just a rumor" suggestions that Force India is in talks with Mercedes-Benz.
We reported earlier this season that the Silverstone based squad may be considering a change of customer engine supplier, perhaps because Honda could be prepared to bundle a KERS system at a lower price than Ferrari for 2009 and beyond.
Asked by the German press at Fuji Speedway about the latest reports now linking Force India with Mercedes, 25-year-old Sutil replied: "That is probably just a rumor."
The German also expressed confidence that Force India, headed by the Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya, will go into next season with an unchanged driver lineup.
"I have been saying for most of the year that I have a contract for 2009," Sutil answered. "That is still the case, and I will honor it."