Mallya reminds Force India who is boss

By Alan Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - Force India owner Vijay Mallya has reminded feuding factions inside his Formula One team that, even if he sees no need to bang heads together, he pays the bills and calls the shots.

A year on from his purchase of Spyker, the team he then renamed, the aviation and drinks billionaire told Reuters that talk of a rift between his senior staff had been blown out of proportion and that he was in the sport for the long haul.

"Unfortunately in the Formula One paddock there is a lot of rumour-mongering that goes on," he said at last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

"Yes, there may be differences of opinion but these differences started even before I took over the team," continued Mallya.

"You know, disagreements are healthy also. They are not necessarily all negative. If there are disagreements between two members of a team, it cannot be blown out of proportion.

"Everybody knows I am the boss and I make the decisions."

Force India, the first Indian-owned Formula One team, have yet to score a point this season and are unlikely to do so at Monza on Sunday in the Italian Grand Prix.

They have not made the breakthrough into the second phase of qualifying that would give them a better chance of challenging for points and latterly there has been much talk of a breakdown between the technical department led by Mike Gascoyne and the management of principal Colin Kolles.