News from Force India.

[timbo]

Changes in Force India.
The end of contract with Ferrari came as no surprise, but the drop of Kolles and Gascoyne is pretty unexpected (well, at least for me , maybe others have heard some rumorms ).
And I can probably understand why Malliya wants to get rid of Kolles, but why Gascoyne, does Malliya have any technical background?
OTOH Gascoyne is kinda controversial as an engineer, he had some good designs at Jordan, from time to time Toyota seemed to show some signs of improvement, but in general he couldn't make steady progress with the car or so it seems. But his work with FI was impressive, they definetely closed the gap with front-runners at the start of the seasons and more importantly FI didn't seem to fall behind in terms of car-development, something which Midland/Spyker suffered from.

[ISLAMATRON]

I am also very suprised, the only thing I can put together is that FIF1 will be buying the whole car(or is that leasing?) from McLaren and will no longer need their services or their probably hefty paychecks.

I dont think those 2 will have any problem finding jobs in F1, funny enough possibly at McLaren given the news of Dennis' move towards the McLaren road car projects. But their pay and positions may be somewhat reduced.

[yzfr7]

Colin Kolles is well related to Audi these days, running cars at DTM. Mercedes wouldn't like him to stay with FI. He will probably end up in Le Mans.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20961.html

[delsando]

First time poster, long time reader.....

It was known Mike Gascoyne and Colin Kolles had their differences within the team.

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f1/news ... lenge.html

[wesley123]

That Gascoyne gets fired is due something he said.

Gascoyne said in 2007 'If the team still is at the back of the grid end 2008 i will leave' So malyja only keeps Gascoyne to his words

[donskar]

Makes you wonder -- Mark Smith and James key are solid tech guys, and Gascoyne was no Adrian Newey, but he was a quality F1 designer. He leaves a large hole behind.

Has there EVER been a definitive resolution to the "customer car" issue?

I agree with an earlier poster who suggested they might be going with a McLaren next year, therefore don't need so much technical firepower. Possible????

[Conceptual]

I think that VJ being the team boss is going to make him the laughing stock of the F1 paddock. Especially if they are actually designing their own car, instead of buying a McLaren and re-branding it.

I cannot see how this is forward progress. Maybe what VJ should of done is get out of the way, and let the professional F1 designers/engineers do their job.

I wonder if Maliya will fire himself next year when they finish dead last AGAIN.

What an idiot he is. But he has the money to do what he wants, and I'm sure every other team on the grid is more than happy to see Gascoyne and Kolles go, at least they have no fear of FIF1 next year...

[axle]

I believe that both men put nooses around their own necks.

I also believe FI will be better off without them. MG isn't in the same league as many of the technical leaders in F1. And Kolles screwed up some business decisions.

[donskar]

axle, I think your statement abour Gascoyne is a little harsh. Any support for it? Has he been known to turn out a string of losers? Certainly, he has been a competetn designer with lots of experience. I can't imagine the team is just as strong without him.

I'll post again on my experiences working in, for, and against Indian companies. I need to collect my thoughts and do my best not to come across as a raving bigot . . .

[WhiteBlue]

having public fights often ends with both contrahends being fired. it is very damaging to carreer prospects.

Gerhard Berger mentioned it weeks ago that the customer car deal between McLaren and FI is done. They only had to sort out the Ferrari deal.

Under the circumstances Gascoyne was surplus to requirements and Kolles reportedly did not fit with Merc. so considering the circumstances the whole issue isn't very mysterious.

[Conceptual]

having public fights often ends with both contrahends being fired. it is very damaging to carreer prospects.

Gerhard Berger mentioned it weeks ago that the customer car deal between McLaren and FI is done. They only had to sort out the Ferrari deal.

Under the circumstances Gascoyne was surplus to requirements and Kolles reportedly did not fit with Merc. so considering the circumstances the whole issue isn't very mysterious.

Huh, now I wonder if Red Bull's half of STR just became more valuable. Especially since it wouldn't be a far cry for them to pick up a Ferrari Chassis to go with their engine package...

Where is Richard Branson when you need him?

[KeiB]

Its sad. I was a supporter of Spyker and Mike Gascoyne back before the whole Vijay Malaya thing happened.

I still believe Gascoyne is a great tech guy. Very aggresive in desicion making, and although not as highly rated as Newey he is still quality.

This morning when I opened the news and saw Gascoyne being fired, and VM becoming the team leader, the only thing I had in mind is "WTF is Malaya thinking? This can't be serious?".

[axle]

axle, I think your statement abour Gascoyne is a little harsh. Any support for it? Has he been known to turn out a string of losers? Certainly, he has been a competetn designer with lots of experience. I can't imagine the team is just as strong without him.

I don't think he's achieved anything earth shattering. Competent is how I'd sum him up. His time at Toyota wasn't very productive IMO. He refused to let the designers design some proper barge boards even though they knew they could make up a chunk of DF and time by doing so, instead he chose to fiddle with little changes...I'd have taken a small hit to leap forward.

I have nothing against him, just don't think he's all he's made out to be.

[Chaparral]

Axle I dont think we know the full story and its probably irrelevant now given he's gone from Force India and if you read between the lines its a customer Mclaren deal that David Richards wanted to do a couple of years back and now Mallya has it. I rated Gascoyne to be honest - he did a fair bit for Renault early this decade then took the whatever it was $8 mill a season with Toyota which was never going to work given its mgt by consensus and the board. Anyway good luck to him he's a bigger bank account than I

[ISLAMATRON]

I think that VJ being the team boss is going to make him the laughing stock of the F1 paddock. Especially if they are actually designing their own car, instead of buying a McLaren and re-branding it.

I cannot see how this is forward progress. Maybe what VJ should of done is get out of the way, and let the professional F1 designers/engineers do their job.

I wonder if Maliya will fire himself next year when they finish dead last AGAIN.

What an idiot he is. But he has the money to do what he wants, and I'm sure every other team on the grid is more than happy to see Gascoyne and Kolles go, at least they have no fear of FIF1 next year...

VJ securing the Benz customer car team has already made him the most shrewd of all the independents thus far, he will get a better car than Williams, RBR, STR, & SAR for a fraction of the price. HE may even get quality driver for free with the same deal. Di Resta may be the best open wheel driver not in F1 (except MS of course), and he is signed with Benz.

It was a mistake for FIF1 to design pretty much 2 whole new cars for 2008 when the rules were changing so drastically in 2009... they should have focused on next year. But that may be moot with the customer car deal on the Horizen.

Dont undersestimate the man, but I have Ideas why you would.