Feb.15 (GMM) Vitantonio Liuzzi has pinned the blame for his departure from the formula one grid on Toro Rosso co-owner and former grand prix winner Gerhard Berger.

With Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais taking his place at the Faenza based team for 2008, 27-year-old Liuzzi says he was pushed out because Berger, the Austrian veteran of more than 210 races, does not like him.

"He has never been a fan of mine, just like Adrian Newey, who in the past blocked my arrival as a regular Red Bull driver," Liuzzi, now Force India's reserve driver, told the Italian magazine Autosprint.

The Italian insisted earlier this week that he is maintaining a relationship with Toro Rosso's other owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, in order to keep the Red Bull door open.

Liuzzi also suggests that his new Force India contract includes the possibility of racing again in 2009.