Force India

Force India

FIA Entry: Force India F1 Team
Car 14: Adrian Sutil
Car 15: Paul di Resta
Engine: MercedesV8
Team Principal: Vijay Mallya
Technical Director: Andrew Green
Race Engineer Car 14: Brad Joyce
Race Engineer Car 15:Gianpiero Lambiano

Stats as of end 2010

First Entered 2008
Races Entered 55
Race Wins 0
Pole Positions 1
Fastest Laps 1
Driver World Championships 0
Constructor World Championships 0

Team History

In 1991 Eddie Jordan made the leap from the lower formulae to F1 with the Jordan Grand Prix Team. Jordan Grand Prix raced with varying degrees of success until 2005, taking part in 250 Grand Prix, winning 4.

In 2006 Jordan was sold to Canadian businessman Alex Shnaider and was rebadged as Midland F1 – entered as the first Russian Grand Prix team. Midland had little success and by the end of 2006 the team was sold to Dutch car sports car makers Spyker and the entry changed to Spyker MF1. Spyker were as unsuccessful as Midland and at the end of 2007 the team was sold again, this time to Vijay Mallya, and Force India was born

Force India

For the 2008 season Force India used an updated version of the Spyker car, designated the VJM01, married to Ferrari engines. Adrian Sutil and Ginacarlo Fisichella were the drivers with Vitantonio Luizzi as the tester. The season wasn’t massively successful, Sutil missed out on potentially scoring points at Monaco when Kimi Raikkonen crashed into him, otherwise the highest placing they managed was 10th for Fisichella in Spain.

Mercedes Power

For 2009 Force India moved from Ferrari power to Mercedes engines. With the same drivers as 2008 the early part of the season showed that Force India VJM02 had made steps forward in performance. Sutil ran 6th in China, before aquaplaning off the circuit, and was as high as 2nd in Germany before another coming together with Raikkonen as he exited the pits. The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa proved to be the high point of Force India’s season. Fisichella, to the amazement of many on the grid, put his car on pole and brought the car home 2nd only to leave the team to substitute for Felipe Massa at Ferrari for the remainder of the season. Sutil followed up Fisichella’s points scoring exploits with a 4th in Italy now partnered by test driver Luizzi.

For 2010 Mercedes engines were retained, as was the driver line up the team ended 2009 with. The VJM03 was another step forward for the 2009 model and Force India scored points regularly in the mid-field. Sutil managed the teams highest race finish with a 5th in Malaysia and the team ended the season 7th in the Constructors Championship

2011

Test driver Paul di Resta replaces Luizzi for 2011 in the VJM04 chassis. With continuing support from Mercedes High Performance Engines and McLaren Applied Technologies Force India are looking to head the mid-field in 2011.

 

[RasputinLives]

Other than Mercedes (who built their own engines) can you name a time its worked?

Whats more the name Aston Martin can not afford to have the PR of not being at the front and winning things. Lets face they are not going to win things with Force India, they'll achieve respectable midfield at best. So what that means is that sooner or later they'll pull out taking all their cash with them and probably scuppering the team with it.

 

[Il_leone]

That is how F1 works though - it is a business to the teams and a sport to the drivers, Yes I can get angry with shady owners like Genii Capital and even VJ

Dave Richards / Prodrive would be operating at a fraction of the budget of the big boys but he's shown before that he can punch above weight. What he has not been able to do is run an F1 team on his terms. What he was good at is being able to manage teams during crisis situation he did that with BAR and Benetton and he probably would could sort out Red Bull in the mess they are in

I wonder what Eddie Jordan thinks about his former team being run by Dave Richards possibly.

--------------------------------------------

Jaguar, Honda and Toyota all disastrous for their investment because they all went out it in a very corporate culture way. Mercedes could have followed the same direction until they changed the structure slightly with Lauda and Toto Wolf in a split management which actually has helped

Dave Richards knows how to run a successful racing team which none of the owners in the teams did so were he to run the team I am sure they could be upsetting the big boys

 

[RasputinLives]

The thing about Dave Richards though......what everyone knows about Dave Richards....the thing is about Dave Richards though

Dave Richards is a prat.

There I've said it.

 

[Il_leone]

well all team principals tend to be prats in one way or another. Dave Richards has admitted he's fallen out with a lot of top drivers in his time including McCrae, Burns, Button to name a few

 

[Bill Boddy]

My father worked in the competition department of David Brown. I don't think that Force India had any connection with them.

 

[FB]

So a Ford owned company will be racing with Mercedes engines, or is this the beginning of a new engine supplier coming to F1?

 

[-WBF1-]

Ford sold most of their stake in the company sometime ago. In 2013 Mercedes agreed a deal to power the new cars.

 

[Il_leone]

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | Richards keen on Formula 1 return

Some old news about Aston Martin. Aston Martin is partly owned by Mercedes however Prodrive have ran VW and Mini in other motorsport categories.

One further note they have bases in Banbury and Milton Keynes so a few Red Bull engineers might be possible to poach

 

[FB]

Then Google has lied to me -WBF1-

Aston Martin
Car manufacturer · astonmartin.com
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. It was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Wikipedia
CEO: Andy Palmer
Headquarters: Warwick
Customer service: 0843 903 2389
Founded: 1913, London
Parent organization: Ford Motor Company
Founders: Robert Bamford, Lionel Martin
Profiles

 

[-WBF1-]

FB after you posted that, I thought my memory was playing up (plus I'm usually wrong ). Here is the article from the BBC (in 2007) Link

 

[FB]

I presume they still have technology links with Ford. I saw an interview with a former Chief Exec of Aston many years ago who said that without backing from a major car company they wouldn't have even be able to develop things like air bags for their cars.

 

[Il_leone]

F1 news: Force India F1 name served its purpose says Mallya amid Aston talks

It sounds like VJ would definitely sell up his stake and let Dave Richards run the team. Is this why Nico Hulkenberg did not sign with Haas?

 

[P1]

Other than Mercedes (who built their own engines) can you name a time its worked?

Whats more the name Aston Martin can not afford to have the PR of not being at the front and winning things. Lets face they are not going to win things with Force India, they'll achieve respectable midfield at best. So what that means is that sooner or later they'll pull out taking all their cash with them and probably scuppering the team with it.

I actually think Aston Martin can afford to be a midfield team.

My friends and I tend to buy cars in this price range, and some of them have Astons. My impression is that nobody buys an Aston Martin thinking its the fastest, sportiest car they can buy. Everyone knows that you can get a 911 Turbo S, an Audi R8 V10 Plus, a McLaren 570S, or even a Ferrari and it will be a faster car at the price point. You buy an Aston because you want a combination of high quality bespoke craftsmanship with a generally sporty car - something sportier than a Bentley, but more luxurious than a Porsche or a McLaren.

So I don't think it matters if Aston is consistently beaten by Ferrari, Mercedes or McLaren. It's kind of what an Aston Martin owner would expect if he took his car to the track. What the Aston Martin owner cares about is that his car is mentioned in the same breadth as McLaren and Ferrari as opposed to Bentley and Roll Royce.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Batman, so you'll be happy Aston Martin F1 finish the races somewhere in the middle, but in style and comfort?
Could be the perfect team for the older gentleman.

 

[P1]

Batman, so you'll be happy Aston Martin F1 finish the races somewhere in the middle, but in style and comfort?
Could be the perfect team for the older gentleman.

Nah. I prefer to drive German. There is no substitute for cutting edge tech.

 

[Il_leone]

Alfonso Celis is confirmed as Development driver for Force India and note the nationality Mexican . I can foresee more funding from Mexico coming to the team

 

[RasputinLives]

Celis Jr has been knocking around their development programme for a while. He looks quick on occasions when he's not running into people

 

[Il_leone]

it will be interesting to see where Ocon 's career path lies with.

Can Force India beat Williams next year with the money they will get ?

It seems the less we hear about the VJ and the other owners the better the team performs

 

[Greenlantern101]

Aston Martin cool plans to re-enter F1 with Force India tie-up

 

[Greenlantern101]

WTF I have t-shirts older than him. 16 year old development driver Nikita Mazepin. Wow, Mazeballs more like.

News - Sahara Force India F1 Team