F1: Hulkenberg Joins Di Resta At Force India

Formula 1

F1: Hulkenberg Joins Di Resta At Force India

As expected, Nico Hulkenberg will race for Force India in 2012 after driving on Fridays last season...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted December 16, 2011 GMM Newswire

Nico Hulkenberg has been promoted by Force India. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Sahara Force India has finally confirmed the not unexpected news that Nico Hulkenberg has been promoted from his third driver role to partner with Paul Di Resta in 2012.

Vijay Mallya waited until the day after the team's Christmas party — which he signaled as a deadline some time ago — before making the news public. No third driver has been named as yet.

Mallya said: "In Paul and Nico we have two extremely talented drivers with tremendous potential.

“I think Paul caught the eye of everybody in the pit lane during his rookie season. 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.

“Our new lineup 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.”

Hulkenberg has had to be content with Friday FP1 sessions this year after being dropped by Williams at the end of last season. He said: “I’m obviously delighted to be staying with Sahara Force India and to be given the chance to race next year. It wasn’t easy to watch from the sidelines this season, but I did my best to help the team and show what I was capable of.

"I’m extremely motivated for 2012 and would like to thank everyone for believing in me and giving me this chance. I’m keen to get down to work over the winter to develop our new car and help the team build on this year’s achievements. The first test in Jerez can’t come soon enough.”

Di Resta added: “I’m really looking forward to my second season of Formula One and continuing to grow and develop with Sahara Force India. 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. I’d also like to thank the team for all their hard work this year and for all the support they’ve given me. I’ll take some time out over the next few weeks to recharge my batteries and hopefully come back even stronger in 2012.”

Sutil, who finished ninth in the 2011 World Championship, is thus by coincidence relying on landing a seat at Williams. However, he faces stiff competition given that several other drivers, including some with budgets, are now on the market.

Adam Cooper notched up his 26th season as a racing journalist in 2010. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.