The two chiefs of Force India have dismissed persistent speculation that Adrian Sutil’s race seat is in doubt following his difficult start to the 2008 season.

While both team boss Colin Kolles and owner Vijay Mallya have already fended off the rumours, the paddock gossip concerning Sutil continued again after the Spanish grand prix, where the 25-year-old was roundly blamed for causing the first lap crash.

Kolles, however, insists that the German’s Barcelona pace relative to his impressive veteran teammate Giancarlo Fisichella was good, and denied that he is facing intense internal pressure to up his game.

“That is all nonsense,” Kolles told the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell, rejecting claims that Sutil’s Barcelona shunt was the final straw and that Force India is now seriously considering replacing him with test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi in the near future.

Kolles added: “What do you expect when you are starting from positions 19 and 20? Of course they tried to get a good start; one managed it, and unfortunately Adrian ended on the kerb.

“This is something that can always happen when you are at the back.

“The pressure instead comes from the outside, because of these things that journalists write,” he said.

“The boy is strong and fast. He is better than (Timo) Glock. On tracks like Spa, Monte Carlo and Fuji he will show how good he really is.”

Team co-owner Mallya, meanwhile, insists that Sutil’s “luck will turn” sooner or later.

“I think he can do a good job for us,” the Indian billionaire said.

“What we have to remember is that Giancarlo is approaching his 200th grand prix, Adrian has competed in just over 20, that’s a tenth of the number of his teammate.

“We cannot reasonably expect him to know everything Giancarlo does, but the benefit of having Giancarlo there is that Adrian can learn and, in turn, grow and develop into a very valuable asset in the future,” Mallya added.

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