Force India announce McLaren-Mercedes deal 

Written by Nick on November 11th, 2008 at 4:53 pmLast Update: November 11th, 2008 at 4:53 pm

Vijay MallyaStarting from next season, McLaren-Mercedes will supply engines to the Force India F1 team. The team’s owner, Vijay Mallya, decided to end prematurely the deal with Scuderia Ferrari in order to sign a new deal with the Woking based team. Force India confirmed on Tuesday a long term partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies which, along with the engines, will also provide the gearbox, the hydraulic systems and the new KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System). Force India will also have access to McLaren’s network of parts suppliers.

“We are absolutely delighted to be able to announce a technical partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines,” said Force India owner Vijay Mallya. “Force India’s VJM02 cars will be powered by Mercedes-Benz engines, a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) currently being developed by Mercedes-Benz, gearboxes and hydraulic systems.”

“McLaren and Mercedes-Benz are two of the most famous names in motorsport history having achieved superb success in Grand Prix racing over many years, and most recently, a superb victory in probably the most dramatic world championship Formula One has seen,” he continued.

“Force India Formula One Team has been in existence for only one year, and inevitably our first season has constituted a learning period. But we said at the outset that we meant business and were not interested in merely making up the numbers. The announcement of our new technical partnership, combined with the new developments and resources outlined above, clearly underlines that we meant what we said,” he added.

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