Force India on Friday announced that both Colin Kolles and Mike Gascoyne will no longer form part of the team following a reshuffle of the management structure. Under the changes, Chairman Vijay Mallya will assume the role of Team Principal, from the outgoing Colin Kolles, while he will be assisted by Director of Force India, Robert Fernley. Design Director Mark Smith and Technical Director James Key will now take on full responsibility of the design of next year's VJM02 and future cars, making Mike Gascoyne's role as Chief Technical Officer redundant.

In a statement released by the team, they announced that “As a result of the restructure, Colin Kolles, Mike Gascoyne and Patrick Missling, formerly corporate and business director, will no longer form a direct part of the team's design, manufacture, race and test operations.”

There have been rumours of disquiet within the Force India ranks during the year, as a result of the team's lack of progress. However, despite being able to pull to within a second of the frontrunners at some races, senior management at the team have voiced their displeasure at what they perceive to be the slow rate of progress. Gascoyne has been by-and-large credited with the progress made by Force India this year, having joined the organisation for the 2007 season under the Spyker guise.

In making the announcement, self-appointed Team Principal Vijay Mallya thanked both Kolles and Gascoyne for their years of service. “'Force India is my most difficult project to date and it has become clear that it requires more direct input from my side and greater performance accountability. We have come a long way this season, but we need more and that requires some radical reorganisation of the management structure to ensure the maximum productivity,” said Mallya. “I would like to thank Colin Kolles for his tireless efforts in keeping such a small team alive and to Mike Gascoyne for bringing his wealth of technical expertise. Both have played an instrumental part in making the team what it is today.”

Mallya also announced that the future of the team would be confirmed on Monday, expected to be the confirmation of a technical partnership with McLaren involving the supply of gearboxes, engines and KERS devices, having split with current engine supplier Ferrari on Friday. “On Monday November 10th, I will announce the new Technical direction of the team as well as the appointment of a new Chief Operating Officer who will assume overall responsibility for our Silverstone and Brackley facilities, Race and Test operations,” concluded the Indian.

Force India finished tenth in this year's constructors' championship with no points, and will race again in 2009 with Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil at the helm.