Force India F1
| Based in: Dadford Road, Silverstone, Northamptonshire, UK Founded: 2007 (active since 2008) Website: http://www.forceindiaf1.com/ Team principal: Colin Kolles (2008) CEO: Otmar Szafnauer Technical director: James Key (until Nov 2009), Mark Smith (Nov 2009 - May 2010) Chief Technical Officer: Mike Gascoyne (2008) Design Director: Mark Smith (until Nov 2009) Head of Aerodynamics: Simon Philips Head of R&D: Simon Gardner |  |
Dr. Vijay Mallya together with the Mol family (headed by Michiel Mol) has established a joint-venture company called Orange India Holdings (OIH). The deal was reported to be worth around €88 million. OIH acquired Spyker Cars N.V formerly Midland F1 Racing and before that Jordan Grand Prix in Ocober 2007.
Under impulse of the new money, the team was quickly restructured. Over the winter, several drivers were also allowed to test while the name was officially changed to Force India F1. It was eventually decided that Adrian Sutil and F1 veteran Giancarlo Fisichella would run the cars in what proved to be a hard fought 2008. Even though the team introduced several aerodynamic upgrades and developed its own seamless shift gearbox, they were consistently at the back of the grid.
By the end of a pointless 2008, Mallya grew tired of the situation and again decided to restructure the team, attempting to improve its performance and overcome the regulation changes for 2009. Therefore, the team ended the engine contract with Ferrari and agreed a deal with McLaren for an engine, transmission and KERS system. At the same time it was announced that Kolles and Gascoyne would leave the team, in favour of McLaren technical support.
Despite some ambitious announcements, the team was unable to meet its own expectations in the early part of the season. But when the team introduced several major updates and decided not to use KERS - and hence make better use of the space available for it - the car started working well for Fisichella and Sutil. Things turned out brilliantly at the Belgian GP where Fisichella was on pole and finished the race in second place.
After that race, Fisichella was picked up by Ferrari to replace Massa, and Tonio Liuzzi, the team's test driver, took his place. In the last 5 races of the year, neither driver managed to get any more points.
In 2010 the team continues with its proven partnership with McLaren but early on sees more technical staff leave its team. James Key was the first to leave during the winter, while during the season, the replacing technical director Mark Smith left for Lotus, together with several other members of the team.
Cars
| Car designation | Race years |
|---|---|
| Force India F1 VJM01 | 2008 |
| Force India F1 VJM02 | 2009 |
| Force India F1 VJM03 | 2010 |
