Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was confirmed as Force India Formula One team's second driver for the 2008 season on Thursday.

Fisichella, who drove for Renault last season, will team up with German driver Adrian Sutil, who was a rookie last year with the Spyker team that Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya bought into and renamed.

"He is somebody who has raced with the best in the business," Mallya told a news conference after unveiling the drivers.

Also read: Don't expect too much: Mallya

Fisichella, who turns 35 on Monday, has 194 races under his belt and is expected to bring some much needed experience as well as technical feedback to the Ferrari-powered team in what is likely to be his swan song at the highest level of the sport.

Fisichella has won three F1 races in his career and his highest championship placing was fourth in 2006. He finished eighth last season.

Also see: Images: Force India unveiled

"The experience and ability to assist the engineering team was a key requirement," Mallya said.

The team also named Fisichella's compatriot Vitantonio Liuzzi as the test and reserve driver. Liuzzi raced for Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso in 2007 but has been replaced there by France's four-times ChampCar champion Sebastien Bourdais.

Video: Hitesh Harisinghani