Sep.11 (GMM) Vijay Mallya has gone some way towards confirming rumours that all is not well at present behind the closed doors of his formula one team.
We reported paddock rumblings recently that tension is a prominent sensation in the Force India garage at present, as team principal Colin Kolles and technical boss Mike Gascoyne apparently clash."Yes, there may be differences of opinion but these differences started even before I took over the team," Mallya, the team's ever-present co-owner, said last week at Spa-Francorchamps.The Indian billionaire then warned: "Everybody knows I am the boss and I make the decisions."Mallya's last point is perhaps at odds with some observers' perceptions that Kolles, who has been involved with a similar role at the Silverstone-based team since its final Jordan guise, calls the shots."The answer is absolutely not. Colin performs a role that I give him to perform and he's accountable to me."He does what I tell him to do. I take the final decision," Mallya clarified.He also dismissed rumours that - with the team's regular lavish parties, plush new motor home, and the inescapable fact that the cars are still at the back of the grid - he may have underestimated the task of being involved in the sport.Mallya's days as a F1 sponsor, through his Kingfisher airline brand, date back to the nineties at Benetton, and most recently in 2007 with Toyota."I've come into this with my eyes wide open," he insisted. "The question of me suddenly becoming disillusioned because I face something I haven't anticipated is rubbish."
