Force India VJM02

[ESPImperium]

I wonder about that..., most of the teams have been raising, flattening, and widening the nose. The only team not doing that is Brawn.

FI's main strength seems to be their lack of drag, as they always seem to be in the top 3-5 for speed traps, en when their laps are slow.

Lack of drag = little or no downforce Antony Davidson said at Valencia in FP3.

If they had a little more drag, the car would be sorted, hence why i suggested the low nose, add a little drag, gain that little bit they need to get firmly into Q3 every time.

[wrcsti]

I wonder about that..., most of the teams have been raising, flattening, and widening the nose. The only team not doing that is Brawn.

FI's main strength seems to be their lack of drag, as they always seem to be in the top 3-5 for speed traps, en when their laps are slow.

They also have a great photocopier.

[czt]

If they had a little more drag, the car would be sorted, hence why i suggested the low nose, add a little drag, gain that little bit they need to get firmly into Q3 every time.

If only it was that easy! Getting the drag wouldn't be a problem but getting it with an accompanying efficient gain in downforce is a little trickier. At this point in the season a new nose is not particularly viable for a small team, given that a new crash test would have to be performed and there are only a few races left - money would probably be better spent on parts which are easier to implement.

Has anyone got any more pics of FI's recent updates? I'm surprised more has not been made of the mods they brought to Valencia as they changed quite a lot!

[PlatinumZealot]

The trick is to get more down force and little drag.
I think the FI is getting there though.. I mean they have a Brawn front wing the DF on the front has to be high.

[Callum]

Does anyone think there is a link between McLaren and FI's increase in performance recently?

I remember at the start of the season some people thought that the FI was basically a McLaren customer car. What I'm thinking is that if McLaren found a fundemental flaw in their car they may have told FI as I believe they have a similar chasis layout.

[Giblet]

McLarens fundamental flaw was improper weight distribution. They thought it was a fundamental aero issue, and once they realized it was weight, they were immediately quicker.

It's possible what FI was using McLaren's "math", and has re-calibrated.

[Confused_Andy]

Mclaren & FI have totally different cars now tbh. I remember EJ saying on the BBC Forum about this and said that they both went different routes and have produced different cars.

I doubt that Mclaren have much to do with FI anymore, they barely had the resources to develop two cars at speed. I sincerely doubt they had the resources to help out FI at the same time.

[Giblet]

If they had a little more drag, the car would be sorted, hence why i suggested the low nose, add a little drag, gain that little bit they need to get firmly into Q3 every time.

If only it was that easy! Getting the drag wouldn't be a problem but getting it with an accompanying efficient gain in downforce is a little trickier. At this point in the season a new nose is not particularly viable for a small team, given that a new crash test would have to be performed and there are only a few races left - money would probably be better spent on parts which are easier to implement.

Has anyone got any more pics of FI's recent updates? I'm surprised more has not been made of the mods they brought to Valencia as they changed quite a lot!

You have to crash test every new nose? I've never heard that before.

I thought the safety cell and chassis had to pass tests, not the flimsy shell that constitutes the nose. They aren't structural parts of the car.

[raceman]

Force India and McLaren have signed on technical support/development agreement. I guess they are using some old (race) settings and improvements from McLaren as per the agreement. That might be the reason for their recent improvement in form and race pace. I don't think just photo-copying some new parts will improve the pace; they also need the data to support the photo-copies then!

They have technical partnership and they are improving - simple!


Boy, they are working hard and producing exciting races - don't we all want it? Or just some two-three teams getting all the wins and coverage all the time; won't it make the F1 sport boring???

[axle]

Force India and McLaren have signed on technical support/development agreement. I guess they are using some old (race) settings and improvements from McLaren as per the agreement. That might be the reason for their recent improvement in form and race pace. I don't think just photo-copying some new parts will improve the pace; they also need the data to support the photo-copies then!

They have technical partnership and they are improving - simple!


Boy, they are working hard and producing exciting races - don't we all want it? Or just some two-three teams getting all the wins and coverage all the time; won't it make the F1 sport boring???

I think everyone assuming it's McLaren know-how is being hard on the team. The team were never bad they were just underfunded. Mallya has invested and improved the team. The Mercedes parternership is certainly more condusive to progress than the Ferrari one but either way give the team credit. THEY created a low drag expert and it's shone at the 1st race that is low downforce. The circuit suited the car. There is no miricle here.

McLaren have said they have started copying the competition to close the gap, so why should FI be slated if they do the same on a significantly smaller budget?!?!

[Fil]

Mallya was saying that the 09 car is their first Force India car. He claimed last year's car was fundamentally designed by the previous iteration of the team. 08 was basically a stop-gap year waiting for their own genuine attempt this year.

As soon as they decided to forget plans to introduce KERS, they've become quite competitive in the midfield.

Kudos to them, they've done well with a limited budget, a lack of engine, ownership & management continuity, but have made the right key decisions along the way.

[ISLAMATRON]

funny that you mention them forgetting KERS and attribute it to their very recent success when KERS was the entire reason why they lost at SPA, FIF1's show of speed at SPA had nothing to do with them no longer looking into KERS.

As for their improvement, it could be simple addition by subtraction, Gascoyne was known to be a cancer and has been thrown out of several teams, and they all seemed to improve after his departure.

FIF1 also seem to much more efficient with their money these days.

And the Merc lump has been making all its runners look better.

[ISLAMATRON]

or maybe I spoke too soon

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78256

but still dont think so

[czt]

You have to crash test every new nose? I've never heard that before.

I thought the safety cell and chassis had to pass tests, not the flimsy shell that constitutes the nose. They aren't structural parts of the car.

The nose is the forward crash structure to protect the chassis and therefore the drivers legs! There are also a pair of side impact tubes on each side of the car, the main roll hoop and then the rear impact structure which is mounted to the gearbox.

The nose will normally have a non structural cap forward of the pillars, but it will mostly be structural.

Video showing front crash test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2H_leY_Q8k

[ISLAMATRON]

and that was only at 31 mph