Sebastian Vettel’s historic win in the Italian Grand Prix would boost independent teams, and Vijay Mallya wants his Force India drivers to take a leaf out of the rookie German’s book. “It is very satisfying to see an independent team winning,” he said.

Force India had a forgettable outing in Monza with Giancarlo Fisichella failing to make the most of his 12th place on the starting grid and Adrian Sutil finishing a lowly 19th. “We would have liked to convert the strong qualifying into something more, but as with all other teams in the field, the tricky conditions were difficult to read and we could not move up. What we have learnt, however, is that we are competitive in full wet conditions, which could be very useful in the next race in Singapore,” Mallya said.

Williams to design Formula Two cars

Meanwhile, Williams will design cars for the low-cost Formula Two championship due to replace GP2 as Formula One’s feeder series next season. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said that Motor Sport Vision (MSV) had won the tender to supply chassis and engines. MSV had in turn commissioned Williams to design the car, with 1.8 litre Audi engines to be built to Formula One safety standards.