Force India eye limited testing campaign
"Giancarlo (Fisichella) will do four, and I (will do) the other four," said 26-year-old German driver Adrian Sutil, currently on a training vacation on the Spanish island of Majorca.
The Silverstone based outfit is the only team that has so far sat out the entire post and pre-season period, with the exception of the Barcelona test last November.
Designers and engineers at the Northamptonshire facility have instead been working in the wake of the announcement of the McLaren-Mercedes technical tie-up, with Sutil telling the Mallorca Magazin that he believes the 2009 package is better than its Ferrari-powered predecessor.
"It looks really good," he explained at the five-star Dorint wellness resort and hotel in Majorca.
2009 will be Sutil's third consecutive season in formula one, with his debut being made for Force India's earlier guise Spyker in 2007.
"We are working to have the car ready for the end of February," he said. Team boss Vijay Mallya has said the VJM01's track debut will be at Jerez in March.
Sutil said his goal for 2009 remains the same; despite being a backmarker, to show strongly against his teammate.
"If I can show good results now, then at the end of the year I can hopefully secure a good cockpit, or stay for another year with Force India," he said.