Force India Formula One Team Limited, trading as Force India F1, is a Formula Onemotor racing team. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indianbusinessman Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol bought the Spyker F1 team for € 88 million.Force India F1 represents increased Indian participation within Formula One, with Delhi set to host the first Indian Grand Prix in 2011. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobileconfirmed the change in name from Spyker to Force India on 24 October 2007.
After going through 29 races without scoring points, Force India won their first Formula One world championship points and podium place when Giancarlo Fisichella finished second in the2009 Belgian Grand Prix, Force India scored points again in the following race when Adrian Sutil finished fourth, and set the teams first fastest lap, at the Italian Grand Prix. The teams current drivers are Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi, with Paul di Resta as the reserve.
BACKGROUND
Force India has its origins in the Jordan Grand Prix team, which entered Formula One racing in 1991 based at the Silverstone racing circuit. Jordan enjoyed many years in Formula One, winning four races and achieving third place in the 1999 constructors title. However, like many of the smaller teams in the 2000s, financial problems meant the team's performance dried up, and team owner Eddie Jordan sold to the Midland Group in 2005. The re-named Midland F1 Racing team spent two seasons at the back of grid, before owner Alex Shnaider sold the team on to Spyker Cars mid-way through the 2006 season. Spyker F1 scored a point in 2007 and briefly lead the European Grand Prix; despite this, the team once again hit financing issues,and was sold on to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, Chairman of the United Breweries Groupand Michiel Mol, Spyker’s Formula One Director. The team, brought for € 88 million, was renamed as Force India Formula One Team for the 2008 season, and retained team principal Colin Kolles, Chief Technology Officer Mike Gascoyne and driver Adrian Sutil.
Beginnings and Ferrari engines 2008
After retaining Adrian Sutil for the team's first season, Force India conducted winter tests for the second driver and testing roles. Ex-Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella was chosen for the race seat, and Vitantonio Liuzzi secured the reserve role; they were to drive an updated version of the Spyker F8-VIIB chassis with Ferrari engines, christened the Force India VJM01.Testing of the car begun in February, after the gold, tungsten and white liveried car was launched at theGateway of India in Mumbai.With an increased budget and wind tunnels from defence company EADS, the team set itself the target of beating Super Aguri, a squad which spent the previous seasons contesting at the back with Force India's predecessors.
Mercedes engines and success 2009
Force India retained the same drivers for the 2009 season. 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 the German GP, Sutil qualified in seventh 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.Force India gained their first pole position in Formula One when Fisichella qualified fastest at the Belgian GP in Spa. He finished the race in second position, less than a second behind Kimi Räikkönen earning Force India's first ever points and podium position. Missing the win was blamed on the car's lack of KERS, a feature present in the Ferrari.
On 3 September 2009, Force India announced that they were releasing Fisichella to allow him to race for Scuderia Ferrari for the remainder of the season. It was announced four days later that test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi would replace Fisichella for the remaining races.
In the qualifying session of the 2009 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, Sutil qualified second and Liuzzi, on his debut for the team, qualified seventh. On race day, Sutil finished fourth and clocked the fastest lap of the race. While running fourth in the race, Liuzzi had to retire due to a gear box failure. Force India finished the season 9th in front of Scuderia Toro Rosso with 13 points, however, this didn't reflect the vast improvement Force India made from the start of the season.
2010
The team announced on 27 November 2009, that it is to keep Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi for the 2010 season. The team tested Paul di Resta and J. R. Hildebrand at Jerez, with di Resta setting a much faster time. The VJM03 will be the team's 2010 Formula One season chassis. Di Resta was confirmed as the team's test driver on February 2, 2010. On 9 February 2010, Force India unveiled their new car, the VJM03, which will be used in the 2010 season.
The 2010 season began with points in Bahrain, with Liuzzi finishing in ninth position. Sutil had qualified in tenth, but was involved in a first-lap incident with the Renault of Robert Kubica. He ultimately recovered to finish in twelfth position. In Australia, Sutil again qualified in the top ten, with Liuzzi qualifying thirteenth. Liuzzi finished the race in seventh, while Sutil retired with an engine problem. In Malaysia Sutil scored ten points with fifth and Liuzzi retired early due to a throttle issue, his first retirement of the season. In the next few races, apart from a retirement from Liuzzi, the Force Indias had quiet races in the midfield, staying mainly out of the action in front of and behind them, with Sutil scoring points in Spain. At Monaco both cars finished the race in eighth and ninth, avoiding the numerous incidents, giving the team their first double points finish. In Turkey, Sutil finished 9th scoring two points, while Liuzzi finished 13th. At the following race in Montreal, both cars finished in the points, with Liuzzi finishing 9th and Sutil in 10th.
