Force One F1 India

Force India ends contract with Ferrari

Force India owner Vijay Mallya terminated his Formula One team’s Ferrari engine contract a year early on Friday while ousting Colin Kolles as principal and Mike Gascoyne as technical head.

In a major management shake-up, after the team failed to score a point and finished 10th in the constructors’ championship this year, Force India paved the way for the arrival of Mercedes engines and closer links with McLaren.

“Force India’s senior management structure will be streamlined with immediate effect,” the team said. “Dr Vijay Mallya will assume the responsibilities of team principal in addition to his position as chairman.
As a result of the restructure, Colin Kolles, Mike Gascoyne and Patrick Missling, formerly corporate and business director, will no longer form a direct part of the team’s design, manufacture, race and test operations.”

Mallya, who bought the Spyker team last year and renamed it, said he had been forced to act.

“Force India is my most difficult project to date and it has become clear that it requires more direct input from my side and greater performance accountability. We have come a long way this season , but we need more and that requires some radical reorganisation of the management structure to ensure the maximum productivity.”

Mallya said the team would announce the new technical direction on Monday as well as the appointment of a new chief operating officer. Mark Smith, the design director, and technical director James Key will share responsibility for the design of next year’s VJM02.

The team, who said that the Ferrari deal had been terminated at their request, are also expected to announce a deal with Mercedes-McLaren. They gave no details about a new supplier but Mallya has been negotiating with McLaren for an entire drivetrain (engine and gearbox) package as well as the new kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) to be introduced next year.

Tags: Ferrari, Force India, Mclaren, Vijay Mallya