The Force India F1 Team is delighted to confirm it has finalised its driver line-up for the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship season. Adrian Sutil will continue with the Silverstone-based team for a fifth consecutive season and will be joined by Paul di Resta, who will make his Formula One race debut. Nico Hülkenberg will join Force India as the test and reserve driver as part of a long term partnership with the team.
Twenty-seven year old Adrian, from south Germany, enjoyed his most successful season in F1 last year, securing 47 points to help the team to seventh position in the constructors’ championship. En route to his highest-ever drivers’ championship classification he notched up nine points scoring positions, including fifth in the Malaysian Grand Prix. He is now hungry to achieve both his, and the team’s, ultimate goal of becoming a regular podium challenger.
2011 marks Paul’s F1 race debut following a strong year of Friday performances as Force India’s test and reserve driver last season and his recent DTM title success. The 24-year-old Scot joined the team after an impressive test in late 2009 and participated in eight free practice sessions in 2010 to get up to speed with the challenges of F1 circuits. This invaluable experience will now be put to full use when he makes his race debut.
German Nico Hülkenberg, 23, completes the Force India F1 Team’s driver line-up for the 2011 season. Nico’s strong performances in the junior formulae and his impressive rookie form in last year’s F1 championship, including a sensational pole position in Brazil, marked him out as a star of the future and the team was delighted to secure his services as test and reserve driver.