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I will convey my decision to Sutil soon: Mallya

October 27, 2011 22:27 IST

Sahara Force India team principal Vijay Mallya, on Thursday, refused to reveal whether he will retain Adrian Sutil for the next season but said he would convey his decision to the German driver whenever he wants.

Mallya had said that he will not reveal his drivers' line-up before December but an anxious Sutil said he can't wait that long to know about his fate with Sahara Force India.

"I speak to my drivers first before media and if he wants an early decision I will give him (Sutil)," Mallya said.

"Media has always criticised me that, I can't do anything but results are there for everyone to see and I don't need to explain anything to anyone," said Mallya on the sidelines of announcing the winner of Force India Driver Academy's 'One from a billion hunt' contest.

Force India has gone from strength to strength with each season. They finished ninth in 2009 and were placed seventh last year. They are currently placed sixth and have a good chance to finish at the same position.

Sahara Force India has 49 points and its nearest competitors are Sauber with 40 points, while Toro Rosso have 37 points in its kitty.

In a glittering function hosted at the Radisson Blu, Mallya announced Arjun Maini, Tarun Reddy and Jahan Daruwala as the winners of Force India Driver Academy's 'one from a billion hunt' contest.

Ten finalists had gone to Silverstone for a final assessment out of which these three emerged as the winners.

They will now go to Europe for further training.

"These kids will go to Europe and they will train there for a couple of years. It will not be prudent to put them in a single seater car till they turn 16 and they will gradually graduate from formula three to GP1 to F1 in time," Mallya said.

"There will be a comprehensive training programme which will include education and drivers training. It will be like a boarding school, which is the idea. Initially only one was supposed to go to Europe but the competition was so close that we decided to have all three of them to go to Europe," he added.

The Sahara Force India co-owner also said that three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna, who succumbed to a fatal crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, is his all-time favourite driver.

Brazilian driver Senna is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. He was killed in a crash at Tamburello corner while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

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