Vijay Mallya believes that Force India will have a more competitive second season in F1 and looks set to stick with the same driver line-up.

Force India’s 2008 car, the VJM01, has made it’s track debut at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.

With less than three weeks to go to the start of the 2008 season, some have questioned whether the car’s late appearance will hinder the team however technical head Mike Gascoyne does not believe it will be a disadvantage.

Force India believe they have what it takes to take a step forward in 2008 and start challenging for points. In 2007, the team competed in Formula 1 as Spyker F1 and managed to finish 10th in the overall standings despite a poor start.

The Spyker Formula 1 team has been officially handed over to Orange India Holdings, a consortium led by businessmen Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol.

A statement released by Spyker NV Cars read, “Today, after signing of the official documentation, management of the Spyker Formula One Team has been handed over to the new owners: Orange India Holdings.”

Spyker have won their first ever Formula 1 point after Japanese stewards decided that the Toro Rosso of Liuzzi had overtaken Sutil under yellow flag conditions.

Spyker Sale

Spyker Cars NV have  confirmed that they are selling the F1 arm of their business to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya for 88 million Euros (£123 million).

The statement from Spyker said, “With the sale of the Formula One Team now agreed in principle, Spyker Cars N.V. will return to the task of finalizing the internal strategic review and associated refinancing which has been ongoing since May,”

On the back of the announcement that Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya is set to take over Spyker F1, there has been a surge of interest in the sport in his home country, India.

Spyker F1’s B-spec car has passed its crash test and will make it’s debut at the Italian Grand Prix.

The B-spec car had been scheduled to debut at the Turkish Grand Prix however shortly before the race, it failed the rear impact test and was not allowed to race. Work was carried out on the car over the weekend and on Tuesday, it passed all tests with flying colours.

John McQuilliam, chief designer at Spyker F1, has been suspended. McQuilliam is no stranger to Formula 1, having joined the Jordan team in 1991 and remaining with it through the years.

Sakon Yamamoto is pleased with the progress he has made in the last few weeks. The Japanese driver made his debut with the Spyker F1 team at the Hungarian Grand Prix three weeks ago, however his performance was less than impressive.