Mark Smith to Stay at Force India until April 2011

Although Lotus F1 Racing have previously announced that Mark Smith will become their new technical director, Force India have now stroke back in a press release of their own. According to the Silverstone based team, the British employee has an ongoing deal with Force India due to expire in April 2011, which is the only date he'll be released of his contract.

“Mark will stay with us until April 2011 and we will, in due course, announce a structure that will take us to the next level of performance. I'm very comfortable with where we are as a team and where we are going,” said Force India's co-owner Vijay Mallya on Tuesday.

Lotus' announcement came only a few days after Force India had released a statement confirming they have taken legal actions against the Malaysian backed team, Italian company Aerolab and their former technical director Mike Gascoyne (who is currently a Lotus employee).

The statement from Lotus F1 Team also stated that Lewis Butler has been appointed new chief of design for the Malaysian backed team, while Marianne Hinson will be new head of aerodynamics for the outfit. However, it did not state the exact date when those three Force India members will leave their current team and join the Norfolk organization.

Additionally, the Indian billionaire confirmed that Vitantonio Liuzzi will use his old chassis in the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix (the one used in the first 4 rounds of the season) due to lack of grip issues with his European-spec chassis.

“Tonio will also revert back to the chassis used for the first four races as we continue to look into why he's got the lack of grip,” added Mallya.