F1: Mallya Says Force India To Keep Di Resta, Hulkenberg

Formula 1

F1: Mallya Says Force India To Keep Di Resta, Hulkenberg

Force India boss Vijay Mallya says neither Paul Di Resta nor Nico Hulkenberg are leaving anytime soon...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted September 12, 2012 Balen (BEL)

Force India boss Vijay Mallya is reportedly facing possible arrest. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Force India boss Vijay Mallya insists that no deals are in the works to take either Paul Di Resta or Nico Hulkenberg to a frontrunning team.

Both have been mentioned in connection with possible vacancies at Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari, but they have ongoing contracts with Force India, which means a deal would have been done if they were to move on for 2013.

By coincidence, Force India has relationships with all three potential suitors, since it uses technology sourced from the first two, and current reserve driver Jules Bianchi is a Ferrari protégé.

“I have confirmed to both my drivers that I want to retain them, and that’s it,” Mallya told SPEED.com. “I will do whatever I have to do to retain my drivers.

“I’ve not been approached by anybody, contrary to all the speculation. The fact that their names are mentioned only shows that my trust and faith in them is not misplaced.”

Hulkenberg said it was flattering to be mentioned in connection with bigger teams, but insisted that he wasn’t taking it too seriously just yet.

“It’s a positive thing if you get linked to those teams. That shows that we’ve done something right,” he told SPEED.com. “But you shouldn’t get too carried away. We’re here to race and we have seven races to go, and the focus must be on maximizing our performance.

“I think it’s quite typical for this time of year, a lot of rumors and speculation, and I think we all know how it works. We just sit back, relax and maybe laugh about it.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.