Mallya 'cautiously optimistic for 2008'

First photos of new Force India car

Force India owner Vijay Mallya is cautiously optimistic ahead of his team's first season in Formula One.

Mallya, together with Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol, purchased the Spyker team towards the end of last year's Championship, promising to give the team the funds needed to succeed in F1.

And although he has not revealed the team's budget for 2008, it is reportedly around the â‚¬65 million mark, which should give Force India the potential to move up the grid.

The team is already set to spend some of the money on the soon-to-be-announced former Renault driver and past race winner Giancarlo Fisichella. The Italian is expected to be confirmed as a Force India driver later today.

And the signing of Fisi, coupled with the potential of Force India's F1 car, has left Mallya feeling confident about his team's future.

"I think that the car always had a lot of potential," Mallya told The Times, "but that the team in the past was not in the position to get more experienced drivers to show that potential, which we are now able to do.

"I am cautiously optimistic for the 2008 season, although I don't want to promise too much."