Force India have confirmed that Paul di Resta will be joined by Nico Hulkenberg as the team’s race drivers for the 2012 Formula One season.
Di Resta was expected to be retained after his performances during his debut season, which saw him end the year as F1’s top rookie.
The 25-year-old Scot finished 12th overall in the drivers’ standings, recording a best finish of sixth place in Singapore.
“I’m really looking forward to my second season of Formula One and continuing to grow and develop with Sahara Force India,” di Resta said.
“I’ve said all along that I love being part of this team: they are ambitious, hungry for success and we work well together.
“I’m really excited about 2012 and there is a real sense of belief that we can continue to push the top teams and take another step forward.” SkySports
Team boss Vijay Mallya said the promise Hulkenberg showed in his practice appearances and di Resta’s impressive acclimatisation to Formula 1 in his rookie campaign made them the obvious choices for next year’s race drives.
“I think Paul caught the eye of everybody in the pitlane during his rookie season,” said Mallya.
“His speed, maturity and racecraft confirmed that we were right to believe in him and we look forward to working with him again next year.
“As for Nico, we identified him as a rising star at the end of 2010 and chose to evaluate him during the course of this season.
“Despite having only limited time in the car, he convinced us that he deserved a race seat for 2012.” ITV
Force India’s announcement means that Sutil will leave for pastures new after six years with the team. Sutil’s tenure saw the team change name (and management personnel) from Midland to Spyker and finally to Force India in 2008. In total the 28 year-old scored 95 world championship points for the outfit, enjoying a career-best finish of fourth at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix.
Mallya paid tribute to the departing German, saying: “Our new line-up means we say ‘goodbye’ to Adrian Sutil, who has been with the team since we entered the sport. He has been an integral part of our success over the past four seasons and we wish him well for the future.” Formula 1
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