Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg will "get exactly the same treatment" in 2012 according to Force India's sporting director Andy Stevenson.

13055 - Drivers equal at Force India

Force India named di Resta and Hulkenberg as its driver line-up in December, with Adrian Sutil leaving the team. As a result both drivers now have only one season of race experience each, although Hulkenberg spent 2011 as the team's reserve driver. Stevenson said that even though di Resta retains his seat for a second year he will have his hands full as he can't expect preferential treatment.

"We've never had a policy here where we have a lead driver," Stevenson told Sky Sports News. "Both drivers get exactly the same treatment; they get exactly the same equipment. Paul will be under pressure. It's his second year within Formula 1 as a full-time driver and it's going to be tough for him. Nico has already proved himself to be very, very quick."

Stevenson also admitted that the new car looked "very, very good" but agreed with technical director Andy Green that its relative competitiveness was unknown.

"It's an evolution. From what I've seen so far it looks very, very good but we have to get it on the track. We know what the figures are - we have confidence in the car we've designed, but we don't know what the guys down the road have done. So until we get to those first tests and actually see what sort of speed other cars are carrying then it's difficult to tell."