Force India retains Sutil and Liuzzi

It will be the fourth consecutive season that German Sutil drives for the Silverstone-based squad, while Liuzzi secures a full-time drive for the first time since 2007.

"We are very pleased to retain the services of both Adrian and Tonio for another season," said team boss Vijay Mallya.

"We have always maintained that consistency is key at this stage in the team's development and for the first time in many years we will have the continuity of not only the same drivers, but also the same engine and senior management.

"With this stability now in place I truly believe we have an excellent platform to build on and move forward on our strong 2009 performance. I am sure we have one of the most dynamic line-ups on the grid and I hope this will stand us in good stead in what we all hope will be a transitional year for the team."

Sutil said: "2010 will be my fourth consecutive year with the team. I feel good here, it feels like family, and when you feel at ease you can focus your energy 100% on getting it right on track. Next season I want to be in the points on a regular basis, maybe even challenging for the podium, and the team has exactly the same goals.

"We are going massively in the right direction so with our combined energies I'm confident we can achieve even more than last season."

Liuzzi, who was the test reserve driver for the past two seasons, was delighted to be able to secure a full-time seat.

The Italian raced for Force India in the last five races of the 2009 season, replacing Giancarlo Fisichella.

"It was always my goal to be back racing in 2010 and I've finally achieved it," he said. "I feel the five races I did in 2009 were a bit of a warm-up; get back racing, learn the car, get the feeling back.

"Now I've done that I feel ready to really push next season. We were pretty strong in the last part of the 2009 season so if we pick up where we stopped I think we could be in for a good year. For sure points are the aim and showing everyone what we can do."

The team said an announcement regarding the third driver will be made in the weeks following the young driver test at Jerez next month.