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Force India-Mercedes

Full name	Force India Formula One
Base	Silverstone, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Team principal/s	Vijay Mallya
Technical director	James Key
2009 Formula One season
Race drivers	20. Adrian Sutil 21. Vitantonio Liuzzi
Test drivers	Vitantonio Liuzzi
Chassis	Force India VJM02
Engine	Mercedes-Benz FO 108W
Tyres	Bridgestone
Formula One World Championship Career
Debut	2008 Australian Grand Prix
Latest race	2009 Belgian Grand Prix
Races competed	30
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	0
2008 position	10th

Force India F1 is a Formula One motor racing team. The team was formed in October 2007, when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol bought the Spyker F1 team for € 88 million.[1]

Force India F1 represents increased Indian participation within Formula One, with Delhi set to host the first ever Indian Grand Prix in 2011.[2] The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile confirmed the change in name from Spyker to Force India on 24 October 2007.[3]

After going through 29 races without a point, Force India won their first Formula One world championship points and podium place when Giancarlo Fisichella finished second in the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.[4]

Background

Although created in 2007, the team's roots can be traced back to 1991, when it was founded as Jordan Grand Prix. Jordan enjoyed many years in Formula One even running the title close in 1999, but financial problems crept in and the team's performance dried up. Eddie Jordan, the then owner, realised the writing was on the wall and the best way to save the team was to opt for a sale.

The Silverstone-based squad and facilities were bought by the Midland group in 2005 and re-named Midland F1 Racing in 2006, before being sold to Spyker Cars towards the end of the 2006 season. However, the running costs of a small Formula One team once again caused the sale of the team this time to the Orange India Holdings group, with Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol taking over the ownership of the team.

[edit] Buyout of Spyker F1

Rumours about the possible sale of the team had been abundant in the paddock throughout the last few months of the 2007 season, after Spyker announced their intention to sell 50% of the team,[5] less than a year after Spyker bought it from Midland. The cost of the team was € 88 million, several million more than Spyker paid for the team initially.[6]

[edit] 2008 and onwards
Adrian Sutil testing for Force India in January 2008.
Fisichella driving for Force India at the 2008 Chinese Grand Prix.

Colin Kolles remained as team principal in 2008, with Michiel Mol as director of F1 racing, and Mike Gascoyne as the Chief Technology Officer.

Force India used the VJM-01 chassis, an updated version of the previous year's Spyker car, for the first part of the 2008 season.[7] The team used customer Ferrari engines in 2008, with the team's existing deal with Ferrari originally running to 2010.[8] The team also used the Indian flag in its team logo from 2008.[3] Former Spyker sponsor Etihad Airways have a contract with the team until 2009, and have yet to announce any changes to this arrangement. Force India will construct their own cars as Spyker did, rather than using customer chassis.[9] Force India has a contract with Adrian Sutil for 2008.[6] In November 2007 the team invited Vitantonio Liuzzi, Christian Klien, Giancarlo Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher, Franck Montagny and former Spyker test drivers Giedo van der Garde and Roldan Rodriguez to take part in winter tests along with Sutil.[10] Giancarlo Fisichella took the second seat at Force India after being replaced at Renault by Fernando Alonso.[11][12] On January 10, 2008, Force India confirmed Fisichella as first driver and Vitantonio Liuzzi as a test driver. Adrian Sutil had already been confirmed and took the second driver Role. Former Spyker test drivers Roldan Rodriguez and Giedo van der Garde were confirmed as test drivers for Force India F1.[13]

At Monaco 2008 it looked like Force India was near to scoring their first point as Adrian Sutil had moved up to fourth place until Kimi Räikkönen collided with him 10 minutes before the end of the race. However, it was judged that Sutil was in wrong position because he had overtaken under yellow flags.[14] More points were lost in Singapore because the safety car period that ensued after Sutil's accident ruined Fisichella's strategy. He had run as high as third earlier in the race.

Force India retained the same drivers for the for the 2009 season.[15] At the wet 2009 Chinese Grand Prix, Sutil almost secured Force India's first points, holding sixth place in front of Lewis Hamilton and Timo Glock with six laps remaining when aquaplaning led to the Force India car skidding off the road and crashing out of the race.

At Monaco, Fisichella finished just out of the points in ninth place. Fisichella and Sutil had moved to Q2 during qualifying and secured positions in the top 15.

At the German GP, Sutil qualified in the 7th place and battled for the points, reaching second at one point, before crashing with Kimi Räikkönen after leaving the pitlane and being forced to pit again to change a broken front wing. He finished 15th. Fisichella also fought for the points the whole race, but despite being a part of a group that were battling for the final points position, he finished 11th.

Force India gained their first pole position in Formula One on August 29, 2009 at the Belgian GP in Spa with Fisichella posting a time of 1:46.308.[16]. Giancarlo Fisichella finished the race in second position earning Force India's first ever points.

On September 3 2009, Force India announced that they were releasing Fisichella to allow him to race for Ferrari for the remainder of the season.

[edit] VJM01
Giancarlo Fisichella leads Adrian Sutil at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix.
Main article: Force India VJM01

The VJM-01 was launched with a white, gold and tungsten colored livery at the Gateway of India, in Mumbai, India, on February 7 2008. The car was named after Force India F1's owners Dr. Vijay Mallya, Jan Mol and Michel Mol. The car was fitted with new aerodynamic updates after almost every race.

[edit] VJM02
Main article: Force India VJM02
Adrian Sutil in pre-season testing at Barcelona.

The VJM-02 is powered by Mercedes-Benz engines from the 2009 season after signing a five year deal on 10 November 2008. The deal also includes supply of McLaren-Mercedes gearboxes, hydraulic systems and Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS). The car was revealed on March 1 2009.[17]

[edit] Sponsorship

Kingfisher, a brand owned by Vijay Mallya, is the primary sponsor. Other sponsors for 2008 included ICICI Bank, Medion, Kanyan Capital and Reliance Industries Limited.[18] Kingfisher also sponsored FMS International, a GP2 team partly-owned by Fisichella. The above sponsors, except ICICI Bank and Kanyan Capital, continue to sponsor the team in 2009. New sponsors include AVG, Airbus and Whyte & Mackay.

Partners

Force India F1 has tied up with Airbus and EADS for technological support has a technical partnership with McLaren.[19]

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Points	WCC
2008	Force India VJM01	Ferrari 056 V8	B		AUS	MAL	BHR	ESP	TUR	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	EUR	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	CHN	BRA	0	10th
				Adrian Sutil	Ret	Ret	19	Ret	16	Ret	Ret	19	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	13	19	Ret	Ret	Ret	16
				Giancarlo Fisichella	Ret	12	12	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	18	Ret	16	15	14	17	Ret	14	Ret	17	18
2009	Force India VJM02	Mercedes FO 108W V8	B		AUS	MAL	CHN	BHR	ESP	MON	TUR	GBR	GER	HUN	EUR	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	BRA	ABU		8*	9th*
				Adrian Sutil	9	17	17	16	Ret	14	17	17	15	Ret	10	11
				Giancarlo Fisichella	11	18	14	15	14	9	Ret	10	11	14	12	2

* Season in progress