Nov.11 (GMM) Mike Gascoyne has reportedly threatened to quit Force India if the Silverstone based team signs Ralf Schumacher for 2008.

The newspaper Welt am Sonntag revealed on Sunday that the veteran German, who was dropped by the Toyota team after three fruitless seasons, is set to test for the newly renamed Force India outfit at Jerez on December 4, 5 and 6.

But the Berlin-based daily also claims that Gascoyne, who is otherwise committed to staying at the team in the wake of the Spyker sale, has threatened to resign his 'chief technology officer' post if Schumacher occupies a race seat next year.

Welt am Sonntag says Briton Gascoyne, 44, who also worked briefly with Schumacher at Jordan in 1998, cites the six-time grand prix winner as a principal instigator of his ousting as Toyota's technical director in early 2006.

32-year-old Ralf is, however, a close friend of Force India's new owner Vijay Mallya, after they met through Mallya's sponsorship of Toyota with the Kingfisher brand.

Vitantonio Liuzzi and Christian Klien, meanwhile, will test for the former Spyker team at Barcelona next week, and it is even rumoured that Giancarlo Fisichella may have been invited to join the action alongside Schumacher next month.