Force India striving for the top five
Force India is now officially the 12th and last team to reveal their car for the 2011 Formula 1 season. Force India revealed their new VJM04 car online on Tuesday. Attending the ceremony were Force India’s drivers and all the team officials. The
team principal, billionaire Vijay Mallya, is working hard to getting his team to finish in the top five of the Constructors Championship.
VJM04 is the first car to be developed under the supervision of new technical engineer Andrew Green, who has previously worked with legendary Jordan 191 car after the senior management left half-way through the season. Andrew said, “Because of the new regulations
for this season, everything is different in this car, but visually it is very subtle.”
Andrew feels that the process of designing and developing the new VJM04 was difficult because of the new untested Pirelli tyres.
The car features a Mercedes V8 engine, a seven-speed transmission system and the Kinetic Energy Recovery System from McLaren. The car also has a movable rear wing and advanced aerodynamics.
Last year, Force India managed to finish seventh in the Constructors Championship, with only the top championship teams ahead of them. Vijay said, “We have three pilots who are hungry for points, podiums and victories.”
Force India drove their last year’s car, the VJM03 in the Valencia test-session to get some mileage on the new Pirelli tyres. Their entire driver’s line-up drove the Pirelli tyres for 327 laps collectively on three days, more than any other team in Valencia.
The driver-s line-up for Force India consists of experienced Adrian Sutil, debutant Paul Di Resta and the always exciting Nico Hulkenberg.
Last year, Sutil’s team-mate was Vitantonio Liuzzi. They both managed to score 68 points and put Force India in the seventh position of the Constructors Championship. Sutil will be working very hard to be competitive and try to finish amongst the top ten
drivers. Liuzzi has been left out and Di Resta has managed to get a driving seat.
Di Resta brings with him an old rivalry with the current Champion Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, adding some excitement by making the mid-field busier this season.
This year, Formula 1 will make its way for the first time to India. Vijay is excited about that and said, “Not to mention the very special event, and one that I personally can't wait for, the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. What better place would there be
to reach some of those aims than on our home soil.” The Indian Grand Prix will be held in October.
It will be exciting to see the new Force India car on the race-track. The team is striving to become more competitive amongst the other top teams in Formula 1.
Tags: