Force India to begin the pre-season test sessions using their 2010 car
Force India has been one of the new promising teams in the sport and it seems that after Red Bull Racing Team, they are the only team that might have the potential to grow and maybe compete against some of the top running teams in the sport.
Toro Rosso, Lotus Racing Team, Virgin Racing Team and Hispania Racing Team (HRT) are not as promising as Force India as Force India finished in 7th place in the constructors’ standings just a single point behind Team Williams. It is definitely
interesting to see how Vijay Mallaya has built and run the team so quickly and effectively in the sport.
It was recently revealed through a report that the team has decided to keep Adrian Sutil for another year and they have promoted Paul di Resta as their second full season driver for the 2011 Formula 1 season with Nico Hulkenberg as their test driver for
Friday practice sessions.
These reports haven’t been confirmed yet but if these reports are true, this would mean that Tonio Liuzzi would be forced out of the team despite the fact that his contract is affective until the end of 2011.
However, it seems that with the introduction of the new tyre suppliers Pirelli for the 2011 Formula 1 season, that the pre-season test sessions are going to be extremely crucial for all the teams and since Force India is not testing its 2011 Formula 1 car
with the new tyres, the team might face some problems later on.
“We've carefully considered our plans for the start of the season and the introduction of the new Force India, the VJM04. The team will participate in all four pre-season tests and we will use the VJM03 for the first test in Valencia before the VJM04 makes
its test debut in Jerez the following week,” chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer told the media.
Force India had to skip last season’s test sessions as well along with the 2010 Formula 1 world champions Red Bull but if they miss it in 2011, it is going to cost them a lot and in order to ensure a good overall package for the 2011 Formula 1 season, the
team needs to ensure that Pirelli suites their car and drivers perfectly.
“Starting a test later with the new car gives us a couple of weeks more wind tunnel time when we are at our most productive to get the parts released for the new car,” added Otmar.
HRT is also expected to use their 2010 Formula 1 car for the pre-season test sessions but both of the teams have stated that they hope to reveal their new car before the season begins.
“There is always a trade-off between running the car early and getting increased information for the aero department and we believe it will work to our advantage, given our size and resources,” said Szafnauer.
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