Another theory about Force India’s absence from a practice session in Bahrain last weekend has emerged.

Word has it the Silverstone based team sat out the second session on Friday because staff were spooked by a Molotov cocktail incident and didn’t want to be returning to their hotels in darkness.

Officially, Force India said the decision to skip a practice session was for “logistical reasons”.

“None of the other teams seem to have a problem,” said Bernie Ecclestone last weekend. “Maybe (it’s) nothing to do with being in this country, maybe it’s something else.”

An event summary by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said: “There are rumours that Force India wanted to save its engines because they are short on cash.”

The team’s Bahrain crisis was handled by deputy chief Bob Fernley, in the absence of owner and principal Vijay Mallya.

Indeed, Indian Mallya does seem to have bigger problems, with the latest reports indicating he is considering selling 26 per cent of his flagship spirits company in order to rescue his dying airline Kingfisher.

A spokesman for JM Financial, representing Mallya, dismissed the suggestion as “factually incorrect and speculative”.

Sahara Force India looks ahead to the third round of the 2012 season in Shanghai, China. To download the full PDF preview or the media schedule for the weekend, please click on the links below.

Vijay’s Vision

After two races the 2012 season appears to have all the ingredients needed to serve up a spectacular year of racing. Already the fans have enjoyed two thrilling races and the intensity of the competition across the grid is sure to capture everybody’s attention.

I said last year that the competition in the midfield was close, but this year it seems to be even more so with the majority of the grid capable of fighting for points. It’s a good situation for Formula One, but it also means points are harder to come by. It’s encouraging that we have scored points in both races and that will be our aim once again in China.

I have to congratulate Paul and Nico on their excellent drives in Malaysia. They are only in their second full seasons of Formula One, but they both showed their maturity in the difficult conditions. At times Paul was one of the fastest cars on the circuit, excelling in the conditions, and it’s clear that we can expect another strong season from him. I was also delighted to see Nico pick up his first points with us after such a strong showing.

In terms of car development, the factory at Silverstone continues to work at full capacity to improve our performance. The first two races have given us a great deal of information to work with and we will put it to good use in the coming races.

Dr. Vijay Mallya

Paul on Shanghai
Following points finishes in the first couple of races, Paul Di Resta sets his sights on more of the same in Shanghai this weekend.

Paul, you must be pretty happy with your start to the season…
I think the whole team is pleased to have nine points on the board after two races and it was important that we picked up some good points on such an unpredictable day in Malaysia. We’ve seen how close all the teams are this year and getting points isn’t easy, so it feels good to start as we mean to continue.

Do you enjoy visiting China and experiencing the different culture?
China is a great place and Shanghai is a city I enjoy visiting. It’s such a big place, there is a lot to see and I enjoy it even more each time I go there.

Tell us about the track…
It has some unusual features. Turn one is very long and feels like it goes on forever. The key to getting it right is how much entry speed you can carry into the corner. You also have to look out for one of the biggest bumps of the year at the corner entry, which makes it difficult.

And what about the overtaking opportunities?
The best chance is turn one or into the very tight hairpin of turn 14, which widens on the entry and makes it difficult to defend. We also saw the effectiveness of DRS last year, which helped produce some good racing and it should be the same this year.

Nico on Shanghai
Nico Hulkenberg looks ahead to racing in Shanghai following his points finish in Malaysia.

Nico, after the disappointment of Melbourne, you finally got some racing miles under your belt in Sepang…
Yes, I’m happy with the race we had in Malaysia, which was basically the first proper race I have done since the end of 2010. It wasn’t an easy race and I was never in any clean air, but it was good to pick up a couple of points – my first points for the team.

Did you learn much about the car given that the conditions were so changeable in Sepang?
You always learn something and a race distance is always valuable for your knowledge of the car, even racing in the wet. The most difficult part of the race was just after the restart when I struggled for balance on the wets and intermediates, but when I switched to slicks the performance was pretty good.

Does the team have a better idea of the pecking order yet?
We’re only at the start of the season – we’ve only had two race weekends, so we still need to wait and see. Because the midfield is so compact nobody can afford to relax. We all need to push hard to improve performance and with 18 races still to go there’s plenty of time to do that.

What are your thoughts ahead of this weekend’s race in China?
It’s not my favourite race of the year, but they’ve done a good job to build a really impressive facility and it’s a fun track to drive. It’s difficult to predict how well we will do there, but given how close the grid is at the moment I think it should be a good show for everyone who is watching.

Years after F1′s ‘spygate’ sagas, the issue could be set to return to the very top of the governing body’s agenda.

Force India claims Caterham and their common former wind tunnel partner Aerolab were this week “found liable” by a British court of using Force India data for the Team Lotus car of early 2010.

Vijay Mallya’s Silverstone based team said the ruling has been “referred for the consideration” of the FIA.

But Aerolab has hit back, insisting the judge “entirely rejected” Force India’s charge of “systematic copying”.

“On the contrary, such misuse as I have found to have occurred mainly consisted of opportunistic copying of CAD files by CAD designers in order to take a short cut,” the wind tunnel company quoted judge Justice Arnold as saying.

Nonetheless, Caterham was ordered to pay EUR 25,000 to Force India, but not the 18 million requested by the team.

“We were deeply disappointed with the damages award,” Force India deputy team principal Robert Fernley told the Guardian.

He said Caterham/Aerolab did not make a simple “short cut” in copying the CAD files, but copied “front and rear break duct systems, the front wing, the rear wing, the barge boards, the vortex generators and the diffuser”.

“The judge might say it’s not systematic but in my view it’s pretty extensive,” added Fernley.

Force India is expected to appeal.

And if the FIA intervenes and charges Caterham with theft, “it would cost Caterham tens of millions for the money they received for finishing tenth in the world championship for the past two years”, wrote Guardian correspondent Paul Weaver.

“And that is before any fine.”

 Force India has been ordered by a British court to pay over a million dollars.
With team boss Vijay Mallya already in financial strife over his collapsing airline Kingfisher, his Silverstone based team must now pay Italian wind tunnel Aerolab.

The high court judge on Wednesday said the amount, which according to the Daily Telegraph will skyrocket to over $6 million once legal costs are added, is for unpaid fees following a copyright dispute with Aerolab and Caterham.

The newspaper said the bill could be the final straw for struggling Mallya, who may now cede control of Force India to 42.5 per cent shareholder Subrata Roy, another Indian billionaire.

But Force India hit back in a media statement on Wednesday by revealing that Aerolab and its client Caterham were found “liable for copyright infringement”.

“Some parts created using Force India confidential information were used on the Team Lotus race cars in the early part of the 2010 season,” it read.

Force India said it has referred the court’s ruling to the FIA.

 Nico Hulkenberg has played down the link between Vijay Mallya’s struggling Indian airline Kingfisher and the billionaire’s formula one team Force India.
According to mainstream media reports, debt-ridden and loss-making Kingfisher is on the brink of collapse.

And new speculation swirling in the Melbourne paddock this weekend suggests the situation could affect Silverstone based Force India.

“The rumours are nothing new,” the team’s new race driver Nico Hulkenberg told Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper.

“The problems (with Kingfisher) have been there for over a year. But it’s nothing to do with us, it’s another business — this is formula one, not an airline,” said the German.

“I can’t judge what is happening to his business. I just know that he (Mallya) is still motivated and for sure will be here for many races,” added Hulkenberg, who qualified ninth for Sunday’s Australian grand prix.

India’s Economic Times this week reported that Mallya has pumped an extra $32 million into Force India via his personal investment company Watson and the sponsorship of Kingfisher’s beer and spirit arm.

 If he’d been at the wheel of a Red Bull in 2011, Paul di Resta is sure he would be world champion now.
The Scot made an impressive grand prix debut with Force India this season and is expected to stay with the Silverstone based team in 2012, with an announcement due this week.

As teammates in 2006, di Resta – who is actually older than Sebastian Vettel – beat the 24-year-old German to the F3 Euroseries title.

“We had the same car, same engine, same tyres and I beat him,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I don’t want to diminish Vettel’s achievement (in 2011), but he won the championship because he had the best car. He did his job, but another driver in the same car would probably have achieved the same results.

“I hope one day to have the same opportunity.”

Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber, of course, did have that opportunity in 2011.

The Australian has been retained for 2012 and he told the Daily Mail last week that he hopes Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko decides to prolong his tenure “a bit longer” beyond next year.

“I think not winning the championship last year knocked him about a little bit,” Webber’s father Alan told the Tasmanian newspaper The Mercury.

Vettel, however, sounds more worried about his rivals at McLaren.

“McLaren were very strong at the end of the year. It will not be a walk in the park next season,” he is quoted by The Sun.

 Nico Hulkenberg on Thursday confirmed rumours his Force India colleagues have been asked to wait longer on the team’s decision about 2012.
Boss Vijay Mallya hinted this week that, despite scheduling an earlier Abu Dhabi decision about next year’s lineup, he is yet to decide which driver out of Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta will be left in the cold.

Speculation remains rife, however, that Scot di Resta will be paired alongside German Hulkenberg.

“We don’t know,” Hulkenberg, 24, is quoted by the SID news agency as saying in Abu Dhabi. “The latest news is (the decision will be made) between the races.”

He is referring to the forthcoming two week break between this weekend’s Abu Dhabi round and the season ending Brazilian grand prix.

According to the paddock grapevine, Hulkenberg’s countryman Sutil needs to be looking hard for another job.

He said on Thursday: “I am 100 per cent confident that next year I will be in F1. It’s not right (to say) that Force India will decide my future.”

Sutil would not comment on his reported links with Williams, saying only: “I am assuming that my future will be clarified soon.”

Force India’s drivers might have to wait a little longer to learn their fate.
Despite earlier scheduling a mid December announcement, boss Vijay Mallya has been pushed by Adrian Sutil to make an earlier call about the team’s 2012 driver lineup amid reports the German will be left out in the cold.

Reportedly in the hot seats for next season are Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg, but the pair insisted in India recently that they are not sure if they will be on the 2012 grid with Force India.

“All the drivers have asked me to make an early decision, and I respect that,” Mallya said on Monday.

But the Indian billionaire also said he does not want to rush, and denied rumours he has already made the decision and is keeping it quiet.

“I have a big decision to make! But it’s not made yet — I’m not the type of guy who’s going to make a decision and string people along,” said Mallya.

“When I decide I will just tell them the way it is and that’s it.”

The holdup could tie in with the similarly unconfirmed seats at Williams and Renault, with Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica regarded as the keys to unlocking the last pieces of the 2012 grid.

“There are many different options and of course a lot of speculation,” Raikkonen, in talks with Williams, told the latest edition of F1 Racing magazine.

“Until something is certain, there is no point in speculating because it could go any way. To be honest, I don’t know myself yet.”

Alongside the Finn, Sutil – who has been with Force India’s Silverstone based team since its Spyker days – is also linked with the Williams seat.

“It is time for him (Sutil) to take the next step in his career,” Gerhard Berger is quoted by Auto Bild. “He was always quick but he now races consistently without mistakes,” the former grand prix winner said.

Vijay Mallya insists Force India’s technical partnership with McLaren is above board.
At the F1 Commission in Geneva on Thursday, the thorny topic of the potential redefinition of a ‘constructor’ will be debated.

The ‘customer car’ proponents, reportedly headed by Ferrari and Bernie Ecclestone, are set to argue that teams are already breaching the existing definition, such as McLaren’s commercial tie-up with Force India.

“Our relationship with McLaren has been built over a period of three years,” boss Mallya, who buys the transmission and hydraulics for his F1 team from McLaren, is quoted by France’s autohebdo.fr.

“If we had violated a rule of the Concorde Agreement, I can assure you that many people in the paddock would have complained long ago,” he insisted.

Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta are refusing to believe they will definitely front Force India’s race driver lineup in 2012.
It is now expected that the team’s long-time regular Adrian Sutil may have to seek alternate employment, with Friday driver Hulkenberg set to step up to the race seat alongside rookie Scot di Resta.

“There are quite a few rumours going on. At the moment, that is what they are,” admitted Hulkenberg in Delhi this week.

“A decision has not yet been taken,” said the 24-year-old, referring to his boss Vijay Mallya’s scheduled announcement in mid December. “I’m waiting for that day.

“Hopefully, the association (with Force India) will be a good one and I look to a good future with them.”

Even di Resta, Sutil’s current race teammate, is not feeling comfortable.

“It (the December announcement) does play on your mind, I won’t deny it,” he told the Guardian. “You have got to keep showing the results, maybe show them even a bit more.”

Adrian Sutil insists he has not been ousted by Force India.
Reports are growing strength that the German, who has been with the Silverstone based team since its Spyker days, will be replaced in the race seat next year by Nico Hulkenberg.

Boss Vijay Mallya, however, will not be making the 2012 driver announcement until mid December.

“Vijay has told me that there has been no decision yet and that the (Hulkenberg) news is not right.

“I have no reason to disbelieve him as he has always been open and honest with me,” Sutil told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

The magazine, however, is convinced that Sutil’s “marriage to his long-time employer seems over”, with new team co-owner Sahara meaning Force India is “no longer dependent on Sutil’s sponsors”.

His only alternative for 2012 appears to be Williams, with Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann reportedly ruling out a switch to Lotus, Virgin or HRT.

Renault has a vacancy for next year, but Sutil remains locked in a legal dispute with that team’s co-owner Eric Lux.

For its driver choice, Williams is in a position of luxury, with Sutil but also Rubens Barrichello and apparently Kimi Raikkonen all keen on the seat alongside Pastor Maldonado.

Auto Motor und Sport said 2007 world champion Raikkonen has tired of rallying, has some sponsorship in tow and is “training hard” for his F1 comeback.

“A quick decision by Williams, as hoped for by Sutil, is not likely,” said the German report.

Adrian Sutil on Monday warned he might walk away from Force India before the team has decided its 2012 driver lineup.
Reports in recent days have suggested team boss Vijay Mallya has already settled on pairing Paul di Resta alongside Nico Hulkenberg next season.

That would leave the experienced German Sutil out in the cold, but the 28-year-old has been spotted recently at Williams’ Grove headquarters.

Mallya has said Force India’s 2012 drivers will not be announced until very late this year.

“I can’t wait until December,” Indian media reports quote Sutil as saying.

“I will speak to him soon and see what his ideas are. I don’t need to wait so long for a seat.

“I think I know what I can do, so I don’t feel insecure,” he added.

Nico Hulkenberg signed a contract this week to race with the Force India team in 2012, according to reports.
The 24-year-old made a promising grand prix debut in 2010, culminating in pole position in Brazil, but he was replaced by Williams with the well-backed Pastor Maldonado ostensibly for financial reasons.

Germany’s motorsport-total.com reports that the German, who has been Force India’s reserve and Friday practice driver in 2011, will make his return to racing in 2012, replacing his experienced countryman Adrian Sutil.

The report said Hulkenberg has inked a one-year deal with an option for 2013.

“We will make no comment on the driver issue until the team makes a statement,” his manager Timo Gans is quoted by SID news agency.

“Already the current contract includes an option, so either way a new contract does not need to be signed,” he added.

Team boss Vijay Mallya has said he will not announce Force India’s next driver lineup until December.

Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann therefore denies that Hulkenberg will definitely be Paul di Resta’s new teammate in 2012.

“That is not right. The team – Vijay Mallya and Rob Fernley – confirmed yesterday that this is a rumour in the press and not the truth,” he insisted.

“We are in negotiations with the team,” added Sutil’s manager. “When they are concluded I cannot say, but we certainly will not wait until December the fifteenth.”

Some in the F1 paddock reacted “with cynicism” to Vijay Mallya’s sale of almost half of the Force India team.
Just last week, the Indian billionaire said he was “shocked” to read the media speculation about his negotiations with Sahara’s Subrato Roy.

But on Wednesday, the $100 million deal was announced in Delhi.

“Some in the F1 press are (therefore) unimpressed with him, with rumours persisting that this is merely the first phase in a gradual exit,” wrote Daily Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary in a blog from Korea.