Fisichella will celebrate his 35th birthday on 14 January

Italian Fisichella has been without a drive since his contract with Renault expired at the end of last year.

But the 34-year-old impressed while testing in Spain for the renamed Spyker team and completes their driver line-up alongside Adrian Sutil.

"With new owners and a competitive budget, I really think we can shake things up," Fisichella said.

606: DEBATE How will Force India do in 2008?

"I feel motivated and ready to help Force India get points on a regular basis," he added.

Fisichella has competed in 194 Grands Prix, winning three times, and will bring much-needed experience as well as technical feedback to the Ferrari-powered team in what is likely to be his swansong at the highest level of the sport.

"He has raced with the best in the business," said team boss Vijay Mallya.

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

"The Force India Formula One team is a serious project and we wanted to make a statement to this effect with our driver line-up."

Fisichella's fellow Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi has also been named as a tester for the former Spyker team, which was bought by Mallya for �61m last October.

Liuzzi raced for Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso in 2007 but has been replaced there by France's four-times ChampCar champion Sebastien Bourdais.