Force India CEO Otmar Szafnauer, has confirmed that the team are looking for a replacement driver for one of their seats, after openly admitting that “there is a seat available [for 2011].”
Recent rumours have suggested that Adrian Sutil could move to Mercedes if Michael Schumacher chooses to retire for a second time, however with the seven-time world champion adamantly denying such reports, the move looks unlikely.
The more likely situation is the replacement of Vitantonio Liuzzi. The Italian currently lies 34 points behind his German conterpart.
Despite this gap, Szafnauer praised the performances of both drivers, blaming bad luck for many of their misgivings.
“They have done a decent job,” he told Autosport. “They have both had some good races; they have both had some not so good races. But I think overall they are both competent drivers, and had bad luck in some instances – but also some really good races in others.
“Tonio sometimes did not qualify well, but has raced well. And Adrian sometimes had the likes of Lewis Hamilton behind him for 15 laps and held him off. So I think they have done a good job.”
