2017 Force India F1 Team - Mercedes

[ME4ME]

Big thumbs up to Force India. Their decision to prioritize talent over money is already paying off.

[NAPI10]

Big thumbs up to Force India. Their decision to prioritize talent over money is already paying off.

Absolutely!!!!

[Blackout]

Do you know how many people FI employs?

[diego.liv]

According to the f1i.com article in the previous page, last year 370 employees

[edu2703]

Big thumbs up to Force India. Their decision to prioritize talent over money is already paying off.

I have to disagree. Perez and Ocon are on the team only because they bring money. If it was not for that, I doubt any of them would get a seat in the team.

For the lucky of FI, both are good drivers and their closest rivals, Williams and Renault, are one-driver teams. Haas has two average-mediocre drivers.

[diego.liv]

Standings
10. Ocon 9
11. Hulkenberg 6
12. Grosjean 4
13. Magnussen 4
14. Kvyat 2
15. Wehrlein
16. Stroll
17. Giovinazzi
18. Palmer
19. Vandoorne
20. Alonso
21. Ericsson
Apart from Hulk, Alonso, Grosjean and supposedly Kvyat, Ocon seems to be in the right place in terms of performance. I rate him just below Magnussen and Vandoorne too due to less experience.
Perez wasn't outclassed by Hulk, so 8th below Kimi and Bottas seems right to me; Force India lucky to have him (talent+ finances)

[Manjhi]

I have to disagree. Perez and Ocon are on the team only because they bring money. If it was not for that, I doubt any of them would get a seat in the team.

For the lucky of FI, both are good drivers and their closest rivals, Williams and Renault, are one-driver teams. Haas has two average-mediocre drivers.

Perez got chance over Di Resta becoz of 2 reasons :
1). Checo was faster.
2). In 2014 they needed money due to regulation change and Checo was bringing some 20 million, while Di Resta only had support from Mercs.

Ocon was selected over Pascal for 2 reason :
1). Ocon has friendly attitude with team.
2). Ocon beat Max Verstappen in 2014 for Formula F3 Championship.

Remember Ocon's father even had to mortgage his house to fund Ocon's racing career. Eric Boullier had too much faith in him and wanted him in Renault, then Mercedes approached him for the junior program, at last he got chance at Force India based on merit not money. Mercs is hardly giving anything for his seat, I think in fact he is driving Force India for almost free.

If money was the sole reason then Pastor Maldonado and Max Chilton would have been racing for SFI. I even heard that Max Chilton was so close to the seat in 2014, only at the last minute was overlooked becoz of Checo leaving Mclaren.

I hope that clears your doubt.

[Raleigh]

Without Checo I agree Force India would need to take a pay driver, they are very lucky to have talent and money in the same seat.

As a Williams fan I'm very jealous

[IamLegend]

Without Checo I agree Force India would need to take a pay driver, they are very lucky to have talent and money in the same seat.

As a Williams fan I'm very jealous

What makes you think Force India would've opted to take a pay driver? The great Checo isn't going to stick around anyway, the way he's been interviewing lately he seems like he'll switch mid season if a competitive seat opens up.

Even if that were the case, Force India wouldn't go for a pay driver, it's not like they have to answer to stock holders or something to show the balance sheet in green like a few other teams.

[Manjhi]

What makes you think Force India would've opted to take a pay driver? The great Checo isn't going to stick around anyway, the way he's been interviewing lately he seems like he'll switch mid season if a competitive seat opens up.

Even if that were the case, Force India wouldn't go for a pay driver, it's not like they have to answer to stock holders or something to should the balance sheet in green like a few other teams.

Since the first test till the Chinese GP, I was slightly worried about his way of giving statement about how slow the car is, but I am relieved that he is at least happy with the team as the team is bringing new parts with the coming races.

I think even if he leaves the team at the end of this season then SFI has some options available as Ocon is also delivering some good results for team. But I don't think Checo will leave SFI for some mid-field team, unless Renault brings something big with the car development or a big salary to the tune of $ 10 million.

Replacing Checo will be tough for SFI as nobody in the grid is as talented as Checo and brings $ 20 million in sponsership + special sponsors for Mexican GP.

[IamLegend]

What makes you think Force India would've opted to take a pay driver? The great Checo isn't going to stick around anyway, the way he's been interviewing lately he seems like he'll switch mid season if a competitive seat opens up.

Even if that were the case, Force India wouldn't go for a pay driver, it's not like they have to answer to stock holders or something to should the balance sheet in green like a few other teams.

Since the first test till the Chinese GP, I was slightly worried about his way of giving statement about how slow the car is, but I am relieved that he is at least happy with the team as the team is bringing new parts with the coming races.

I think even if he leaves the team at the end of this season then SFI has some options available as Ocon is also delivering some good results for team. But I don't think Checo will leave SFI for some mid-field team, unless Renault brings something big with the car development or a big salary to the tune of $ 10 million.

Replacing Checo will be tough for SFI as nobody in the grid is as talented as Checo and brings $ 20 million in sponsership + special sponsors for Mexican GP.

I don't buy the idea that talent alone can take someone or a team all the way. I agree that he's talented, but he's in a place where he thinks he's too good just like one dude at McLaren (his angst and justifications are a whole different topic).

But just think about it, if his heart isn't in the place, his showmanship will be all about advertising himself better to find better emplyoment. "We extracted the most out of the package." "Sixth was the best we could do given what we had." All these only tell me he's blowing his own trumpet to find a better seat, he's an unsatisfied employee because he feels he needs to be in a better place, he's not settled in the team to build the team up.

On the other hand, if you took Ocon, he's talented but at the same time working with the team to make the situation better, that tells me he's a team player. For any team an individual with the work ethic of Michael Schumacher is what they need, because he can then put in the hard-work to utilize his "talent" and spread the hunger to desire for more around the team, it's an infectious feeling.

I also don't think Checo will go to Renault, at least for this season. If it were a Ferrari or Red Bull where for some foreseen reason one seat opens up mid season, he'll drop Force India like a hot cake.

[NAPI10]

Perez still insists ; its a miracle to be at 4th in construction and VJM10 is really far away in pace -
http://www.planetf1.com/news/perez-forc ... -miracles/

I am not sure , he is comparing pace with mid field teams or RB/Ferrari.

[Manjhi]

I don't buy the idea that talent alone can take someone or a team all the way. I agree that he's talented, but he's in a place where he thinks he's too good just like one dude at McLaren (his angst and justifications are a whole different topic).

But just think about it, if his heart isn't in the place, his showmanship will be all about advertising himself better to find better emplyoment. "We extracted the most out of the package." "Sixth was the best we could do given what we had." All these only tell me he's blowing his own trumpet to find a better seat, he's an unsatisfied employee because he feels he needs to be in a better place, he's not settled in the team to build the team up.

On the other hand, if you took Ocon, he's talented but at the same time working with the team to make the situation better, that tells me he's a team player. For any team an individual with the work ethic of Michael Schumacher is what they need, because he can then put in the hard-work to utilize his "talent" and spread the hunger to desire for more around the team, it's an infectious feeling.

I also don't think Checo will go to Renault, at least for this season. If it were a Ferrari or Red Bull where for some foreseen reason one seat opens up mid season, he'll drop Force India like a hot cake.

I think he has all the right to blow his own trumpet, after all he has achieved something which no SFI driver has for the team. He looks desperate for big seat and he has his eyes set on Ferrari since 2016, but somehow Ferrari is not looking at him for the replacement and he is also not able to generate some buzz like some of the big names have like Ricciardo and Bottas.

Checo's decision for staying with SFI shows his ambitions are big team and he is targeting Ferrari rather than some short term contract with teams like Renault.

I agree that in 2017 season he has started giving some strong statements so that his performance doesn't get unnoticed by Ferrari. And with Ferrari's performance this season his desperation just got higher.

[Raleigh]

What makes you think Force India would've opted to take a pay driver? The great Checo isn't going to stick around anyway, the way he's been interviewing lately he seems like he'll switch mid season if a competitive seat opens up.

Even if that were the case, Force India wouldn't go for a pay driver, it's not like they have to answer to stock holders or something to should the balance sheet in green like a few other teams.

Because Perez has been bringing in 1/5th of Force India's entire budget 4 years now, you think the team could get the same results without that money?

Without Checo the choice would have been 2 talented drivers scrapping for occasional points because the team has a Manor/Sauber budget, or 1 talented driver getting regular points and a pay driver who gets some points.

And yes, Checo will leave if he gets a more competitive drive, the guy wants to win races and championships, he's been doing hero drives to the podium in mid-field cars since 2012 in the Sauber and I can't see Force India turning into race winners.

[NAPI10]

Perez do deserve drive in a championship winning car but passing cheeky remarks towards FI is not a way forward. He will be in a soup if Ocon start outscoring in his proper first season.