Force India’s choices for 2013

With the majority of the front running teams’ driving line-ups confirmed for the 2013 season, the remaining midfield teams such as Force India remain unconfirmed as this highly entertaining season draws to a fine conclusion. The burning question amongst the paddock is who will be driving for Force India come 2013?

With reports linking Nico Hulkenberg to Sauber alongside Esteban Gutierrez next season floating around the motor sport fraternity lately, one has to assume that there is some truth behind these speculative reports. Although no driver has yet to be officially confirmed at Sauber for next season, it does seem highly probable that Nico Hulkenberg is on the move from Force India.

Earlier in the year, the German driver was linked to a possible move to Ferrari in place of Felipe Massa. Hulkenberg’s current Force India team-mate Paul di Resta was also linked to the second Ferrari driver alongside Fernando Alonso, however once Felipe Massa was confirmed for one more season following on from his vast improvement in form, reports linking the Silverstone-based duo to the outfit died instantaneously.

Since then, Hulkenberg has become the leading candidate to Sergio Perez’s vacancy at Sauber and di Resta has become linked to a further season with Force India, especially after Sergio Perez was chosen as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at McLaren. With the Briton likely to remain a Force India driver next season, speculation is now ripe within the Formula 1 paddock on who will eventually join the 26-year-old at the team.

With an abundance of drivers striving to find their way into F1, a whole list of drivers have been hinted as possible candidates to drive for Force India next season. This list ranges from F1 returnees Adrian Sutil and Jaime Alguersuari, to rising stars of the future such as Luiz Razia, Jules Bianchi and Davide Valsecchi. Each driver is as likely to find a drive than the first, posing a tough choice for the management within Force India to make a decision on who to pick.

Naturally in modern day Formula 1, money can speak much louder than talent, as is evident at other teams within the paddock. This could see a driver with much more sponsorship money enter the team, rather than someone with pure talent and a knack of racing consistently quick. Former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari has been hinting at a possible return to the sport for several weeks now, and is unarguably a superlatively skilled driver who was rather unfortunate to say the least to be replaced at Toro Rosso at the end of last season.

However, Adrian Sutil’s name has also been flitted around the paddock lately, and seeing as the German driver raced for the Silverstone-based outfit since it’s inaugural season back in 2008 until last season makes him a rather enticing option for Force India. Regardless of signing a driver who has already enjoyed several seasons in Formula 1, a GP2 graduate could well be an even better route to take for the team, regarding the driver in question comes bearing gifts in the form of lucrative sponsorship deals.

Both Davide Valsecchi and Luiz Razia enjoyed a stupendous season in GP2 this year, with the former taking the Championship in splendid style during the Singapore race weekend. Luiz Razia has previously tested for the Silverstone-based outfit during their Young Driver Test program last month a Magny-Cours, and nearly stole the GP2 Championship away from Valsecchi in the closing stages of the season.

Either way, the management at Force India have a serious conundrum on their hands. They clearly have a car worthy of scoring points on a weekly basis, and a long list of candidates who are all equally able to score those points if given the opportunity. However, with many intricate differences between each driver, including the amount of money they can bring into the team, it could be an unlikely candidate who is eventually signed up for the 2013 season.

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