Image: Force India Website

Force India bossman Vijay Mallya has decided to crack the whip after the team’s abysmal performance in the recently concluded Formula One 2008 season. The team finished last, and failed to score any points, coming agonisingly close to doing so, though, especially at Monaco.

Mallya has terminated the engine contract with Ferrari a year ahead of schedule, and chucked out Team Principal Colin Kolles Technical Head Mike Gascoyne.

Mallya will now be the team principal, and will be assisted by Robert Fernley, director of Force India, along with design director Mark Smith and technical director James Key. The team will now look to source their engines from McLaren-Mercedes.

Mallya is said to be negotiating with McLaren for an entire drivetrain (engine and gearbox) package along with the new kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) to be introduced from next year. He also offered to compensate Ferrari for any development costs incurred on Force India’s behalf for 2009.