Vitantonio Liuzzi's seat with Force India under threat
Peter Collins, Vitantonio Liuzzi's personal manager has little hope to see the driver getting any seat on the 2011 grid. He told the reporters earlier today (Friday) that he is not sure if the Italian will be able to get a seat this season or not.
The driver was seen behind the Force India wheel last year but was not able to show any impressive races all through the season. Liuzzi had been with the same Indian squad since 2009 and is still insistent that his contract with the team is to go for another
year, which is ‘watertight’. However, there are reports that the team has already signed Paul di Resta for the upcoming season to race alongside Adrian Sutil.
Sutil has already driven for the team for the past three years. His last year’s campaign was a very successful one as he was able to bag points in several races, despite the fact that the team car was not very competitive. The German wrapped the 2010 season
at 12th place in the annual drivers’ charts with his 47 points. The team believes that he is going to be seen even better next year with an improved car and new Pirelli tyres.
However, for the 29-year-old Liuzzi, the team has not confirmed anything for the next season. The team boss, Vijay Mallya announced earlier this week that an imminent announcement regarding the team drivers is held back only because "some legal loose ends"
are being taken care of. He stated that he is really excited about next year’s driver line up and hopes to see a far better year for the team. His statement gave further air to rumours regarding the dropping of Liuzzi from the team and hiring of some other
new driver.
Collins, Liuzzi's manager also seemed uncertain as he talked about the driver’s future in Formula One this season. He told some reporters, "Tonio will be in F1 this year. Will he be racing? I don't know."
Moreover he stated, "I've no (further) comment to make at this stage and it would be wrong for me to do so. The position has been very clear for some time and it is best to let the team make any announcement.”
When a spokesperson for Force India was asked regarding the matter he refrained from giving any comment. He insisted that it was better for everyone to wait until the team boss came up with a final announcement.
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