Constructor Details

Force India
Force India photo

Current Drivers

Data and Statistics

Championships 6 (0 Won) First GP 2008-03-17
Grand Prix 98 (0 Won) Last GP 2013-05-12
Podiums 1 Principals Vijay Mallaya
Poles 1 Directors Andrew Green
Fastest Laps 4 Headquarters Silverstone, IND
Website www.forceindiaf1.com
Team Position
Team Points
Year/Team1234567891011121314151617181920PtsPos
2013
Sahara Force India
AUS
105
MYS
0
CHN
47
BHR
123
ESP
65
                325
2012
Sahara Force India
AUS
17
MYS
87
CHN
08
BHR
84
ESP
18
MCO
105
CAN
07
EUR
165
GBR
08
DEU
27
HUN
07
BEL
134
ITA
46
SGP
124
JPN
66
KOR
84
IND
45
ARE
27
USA
45
BRA
104
1097
2011
Force India
AUS
36
MYS
17
CHN
07
TUR
08
ESP
07
MCO
65
CAN
012
EUR
26
GBR
08
DEU
84
HUN
64
BEL
65
ITA
46
SGP
124
JPN
07
KOR
16
IND
26
ARE
65
BRA
124
  695
2010
Force India
BHR
25
AUS
65
MYS
104
CHN
06
ESP
65
MCO
66
TUR
26
CAN
37
EUR
85
GBR
46
DEU
09
HUN
09
BEL
115
ITA
08
SGP
27
JPN
0
KOR
85
BRA
09
ARE
09
  687
2009
Force India-Mercedes
AUS
06
MYS
010
CHN
09
BHR
09
ESP
09
MCO
07
TUR
010
GBR
06
DEU
09
HUN
09
EUR
08
BEL
82
ITA
53
SGP
09
JPN
09
BRA
08
ARE
010
    1310
2008
Force India-Ferrari
AUS
0
MYS
08
BHR
09
ESP
08
TUR
09
MCO
0
CAN
0
FRA
010
GBR
0
DEU
09
HUN
09
EUR
010
BEL
09
ITA
010
SGP
010
JPN
0
CHN
010
BRA
010
   010
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Constructor Overview

The establishment of Force India in 2007, was led by Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya, who along with a consortium of companies, purchased the team for $ 88MM owned until then by Spyker Cars. The history of the outfit goes back to 1991, when Eddie Jordan founded his own team that raced as Jordan Grand Prix for 15 years. 

In 2006 it was sold for about $60MM to Russian-Canadian businessman Alex Shnaider, who renamed it Midland F1 Racing. Apparently, seeing how complicated this of running a Formula 1 team was, in the middle half of the 2006 season, it was sold again now to the Dutch Spyker. At the time of the last ownership transfer, the team retained the top management: Colin Kolles as Principal, the Technical Director Mike Gascoyne, and the driver Adrian Sutil.

The first important decision came before the 2008 season with the agreement to use Ferrari engines. For the same season, the talented Giancarlo Fisichella joined Sutil, while Vitantonio Luizzi would be hired as the reserve driver. Still with a Spyker chassis and only minor adjustments, Force India gathered relatively positive results, given the expectations. The best one was a tenth place finished by Fisichella in the GP of Spain. However, more relevant was what happened to Sutil while going 4th in Monaco and a distracted Raikkonen came from behind putting the German out of the race, with just under 10 laps to finish.

For the next season -2009- and now with Mercedes engines and gearbox, some of the first year learning stared to pay off. Amazingly, Fisichella took the pole position at no other place but Spa-Francorchamps, in which he finished second behind Raikkonen, in part, by the presence of KERS on the Finn's Ferrari. Force India also obtained valuable starting positions in the GP of Italy with a 2nd (finishing 4th) and 3rd in Brazil. The team scored 13 points in total, ranking ahead of Toro Rosso in the championship final standings.

For the 2010 season the team had higher aspirations. The company reached an agreement with the Computational Research Laboratories (CRL), a subsidiary of Tata Motors, for the use of analysis software in fluid dynamics. The VJM03 model looked promising, and under the command of Sutil and Luizzi the team began to take part frequently in the mid portion of the pack. In fifteen opportunities, its drivers ended with points, including a pair of fifth and sixth positions. The effort faded a bit at the end after several key staff members left, including the Technical Director, James Key, and Chief Designer, Lewis Butler.

In 2011, Andrew Green, was in charge of development of the VJM04. The team secured the services of the coveted scot Paul di Resta (DTM champion) who replaced Vitantonio Luizzi, and now joined forces with Adrian Sutil, while Nico Hulkenberg was signed as a reserve driver. The team continued to evolve and set its objectives clearly: to move up in the constructors' standings in terms of points and position. Just as the actions started Di Resta impressed by finishing tenth twice in a row in Australia and Malaysia (Sutil earned a ninth in Aussie lands). After these promising results, the team faded a little, often finishing either inside our outside of the point zone.

Sutil was the most constant during this time, underlining a fantastic 7th place in Monaco, a 9th in Valencia and an incredible 6th in the GP German GP where VJM001 proved to be a powerful, reliable and aerodynamically efficient machine (sometimes matching the Mercedes). The German kept his form by earning an outstanding 7th at Spa-Francorchamps.

Nevertheless, now it came the turn to shine for Paul Di Resta. The young Scot got a great seventh place in Hungary, a valuable 8th in Monza and then a fantastic 6th in Singapore. The final third part of the season was the best for Force India. Both drivers finished in the points scoring frequently with Sutil in positioning himself in 9th, 8th and 6th in the last three rounds, while Di Resta managed a 9th and 8th in the last two. 

The team had improved by one point compared to last year, but up to 6th in the overall standings, just four (4) behind Lotus Renault. However, it was the infusion of confidence in view of being able to fight stronger teams like Renault and sometimes the same Mercedes that highlighted this period and season. In October 2011, in a transaction valued at $ 100 million, the team announced a 42.5% stake sell to the Sahara India Periwar Company, which means greater penetration aspirations for global and Indian markets.

For the 2012 season, the team was going to be name as Sahara Force India, and it will confirm Paul Di Resta as driver, while promoting Nico Hulkenberg to join the Scot as the drivers.  Another youngster, Jules Bianchi will be in charge of the testing duties. 

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