Force India Mid-Season Review #JoinTheTeam

Force India finished the 2014 Formula One season with their biggest ever points haul and headed into the 2015 season with a stable driver lineup in the form of Nico Hulkenburg and Sergio Perez. The team started off the year with a grand launch of the stunning new livery in Mexico in January. However, things didn’t go well for them soon after. With the VJM08 still being built, the team announced that they would have to skip the first and the second pre-season test. Fans were warned by Perez himself that the start of the season won’t be good for the Silverstone based team.  

However, on the second day of the final pre-season test, the VJM08 broke cover and it immediately proved to be a very stable car. Lap after lap that the VJM08 put in, the smile on every Force India fan’s face became wider.  Despite having only three days of testing, the team did a great job and went on to score a double points finish in the very first race at Albert Park. Force India were bang on the buck in terms of reliability but still lacked the pace they needed.

At the next race in Malaysia, the hot weather posed a tough challenge for the drivers, who were struggling with tyre degradation and lack of balance in the car. Penalty for both drivers meant they were out of the points at the end of the day.  In Shanghai, both cars showed  improvements in terms of race pace. Perez was quick around the circuit and was happy with how the car was performing, despite just missing out on a point. However, Nico’s race ended with a gearbox failure.

                                        Hulkenburg during the 2014 Malaysian GP

Bahrain was a big step forward for the team. Nico made it into Q3 for the first time in the year while Checo just missed out. The race showed just how good Perez is at managing his tyres. The Mexican finished in 8^th, whilst Nico, who just didn’t have the pace on race day, managed 13^th place.  

The start of the European season meant that every team was going to bring major upgrades. This hampered Force India, who were behind schedule on upgrades. At the Spanish Grand Prix, a difficult qualifying session and a track were overtaking is not easy meant that Force India could manage only 13^th and 15^th.  Force India fully utilized the two day in-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya to gather data. The results were evident from the following race in Monaco where Perez put in a superb lap to secure 7^th in qualifying. A great race for the Mexican brought him his first points at the legendary circuit. Hulkenburg’s race was gravely affected after an incident with Alonso but he managed to drive well to come home in 11^th.

At the Canadian Grand Prix, both drivers made it to Q3, which showed that the sleek body of the VJM08 along with the Mercedes power Unit was capable of going very quick.  Nico had an eventful race but did well to score four points, whereas Perez didn’t get the balance right and finished in 11^th. At the Austrian GP this package once again proved its worth when the Le Mans race winner qualified in 5^th place. This race showed how good the two drivers are in the VJM08. They drove extremely well to score 10 points, which in turn moved the team into 5^th place in the Constructors Championship. Another in-season test in Austria gave the team the opportunity to test the new parts and analyze the data before their home race in Silverstone.

After racing with pretty much the same car from the start of the season, Force India finally brought a B-Spec VJM08 to Silverstone. This beast was very aggressive and was ready to take the team to new heights. That’s just what it did at the British Grand Prix when the drivers tackled the team’s home track, both in the dry and the wet, with great race pace. This gave the team a double points finish, which cemented their place as the top mid-field team once again. 

The Hungarian Grand Prix weekend started off on a somber note with tributes pouring in for Jules Bianchi. Perez had a scary accident and the team decided not to run in FP2. The race was disappointing for the team, despite Hulkenburg’s mega start, as both drivers did not finish.

The season didn’t start well for the team but they have made huge progress over the months to maintain 5^th place in the Constructors Championship. With two solid drivers and a fast car, there is a lot more to come in the second half of the season from the Sahara Force India Formula One Team.

2013 Singapore Grand Prix Preview

After the end of the European leg, the Formula One circus are back to Asia for 5 out of the last seven races in 2013. After Sebastian Vettel's dominant victory in Monza, he extends his lead in the Championship by 53 points over Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. The German is almost certain to claim his 4th title this year unless something major happens. Vettel will begin his final charge at this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. 

Track Check:

The Marina Bay Street circuit consists of 23 Turns and runs for 5.065 km around the Marina Bay area of Singapore. The best part about the race is that it is run at night and starts at 8 PM local time. The lights reflecting off the drivers helmets and cars is a delight to watch. 

One major change in the track will be at Turn 10. The Singapore Sling or the quick left-right apex, which is known to throw drivers off line, will be replaced by a single left hand turn. This in turn increases the speed through the corner which is around 1 second faster than last year.






Instead of one DRS zone that we saw last year, there will be two this year. The first one will be from Turn 5 through the quick right hander at Turn 6 up till Turn 7. The second shorter DRS zone will be on the main straight between Turns 23 and 1, which will bring drivers closer to each other rather than making passes.

The track has also been relaid in many sections including the pitlane. This will make those sections green and slippery at the beginning of the weekend. 

Mercedes and Lotus look to regain momentum

Mercedes will be looking to regain their lost form. After disappointing at the low downforce Monza circuit, the team are optimistic about the race this weekend. Their Executive Director Toto Wolff said: "We are all focused on regaining some of the momentum we lost at the past two races. We expect the return to maximum downforce configuration to suit our car and we may see another shift in the competitive order between the teams.”

“We will bring new developments to the car once again for this race and we are all focused on maximising the opportunities for both Lewis and Nico, in order to re-establish ourselves in second position in the constructors’ standings.” he added.

Their driver Lewis Hamilton, who is in 3rd place in the Championship, will be looking to go back to his pole setting ways after qualifying down in 12th at Monza. He said: "We’ve had a tough couple of weekends in Belgium and Italy but I know that everyone at the team is determined to bounce back and make the most of the opportunities over the last seven races of the season.”

After the race in Monza, Mercedes lost out to Ferrari for 2nd place in the Championship. They trail Ferrari by 3 points. 

Meanwhile, Lotus too haven't had a good month. After scoring only 8 points in the last two races, they have lost their star driver Kimi Raikkonen to Ferrari, along with Aerodynamicist Dirk De Beer. They will look to give Kimi a good send off by giving him a car he win races with rather than just finishing the race. 

Their driver Raikkonen is hopeful of a podium at Singapore with their car better suited to the tight and twisty Marina Bay Circuit. After two non scoring races, Raikkonen said: "After these two weekends with zero points it’s nice to get back to a circuit we expect to be more suited to our car. We seem to go better at high downforce circuits that’s for sure. Obviously, the podium is a target again. We’ve had two races without scoring any points so we need to score as many as we can in the remaining races this season,” 

Just three drivers have won over 5 years in Singapore. Vettel will look to win in Singapore for the third time in succession, while Alonso too will be looking for his third victory at the circuit. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton has won the race once. 

Singapore will give a clearer picture about the Championship and will tell us if either Alonso or Lewis can go ahead and challenge Vettel or will the German cruise to yet another Championship.

The Weather looks like it will stay dry even though there are predictions for rain during the day. Sunday's race will start at 8 PM local time and will run for 61 laps. We can expect fireworks both on and off the track. We are in for a treat this weekend!

2013 Belgian Grand Prix Review: Vettel dominates and inches closer to 4th title

After a month long break, the drivers and fans were back on track to see the cars tackle the amazing Spa Francorchamps circuit once again. This time for the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix. Let's take a look at how the weekend panned out, 

Practice:

FP1 began with a wet and slippery track courtesy the rain earlier in the day. After sitting out for most part of the session, it was Ferrari's Fernando Alonso who topped the session followed by the two Force India drivers. Kovalainen made a come back to the grid after Caterham offered him a Free Practice outing this weekend. He put up the 16th best time. The track dried out for FP2 and it was Red Bull who showed their amazing pace after setting a blistering time which was over 8 tenths ahead of the rest of the pack. Vettel lead Webber heading into Saturday. FP3 was again a dry session and was topped by none other than Vettel. This time, Alonso closed in the gap in the run up to an exciting qualifying session.

Qualifying:

Q1 began with a wet track after rain hit the track shortly before qualifying started. Drivers set out on their intermediates and in the final few minutes all the drama began on a drying circuit. Caterham's Van der Garde set the third best time after risking to come out on mediums. Another shock of the session was that both Marussia made the cut into Q2 as neither Williams or Torro Rosso cars made the cut along with Gutierrez and Charles Pic. Alonso pipped Hamilton to top the session. Q2  started out on a dry track and drivers were out immediately to set a time. Raikkonen topped the session while neither Marussia cars made the cut along with Van der Garde, Hulkenburg, Sutil and Perez. Q3 went green and surprise surprise, the rain was back. Force India's Paul Di Resta was the only one to start out with intermediates in what could have been the young Scot's best decision till date. The Scot put himself comfortably on top until the rain eased out and the track offered more grip. The dying few seconds saw 4 drivers beating Di Resta's time, each bettering the other.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was the last one to cross the line and clinched his 4th consecutive pole. 8 poles out of the last 9 races for the Mercedes team. That's quite a turn around by the team this year. It was Vettel and Webber behind the Brit with Raikkonen and Alonso managing only 8th and 9th. 

Race:

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position on Saturday and was at the head of the field for the race ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Dry weather welcomed the drivers to the track but rain was expected later in the day.

As the lights went green, Hamilton had a good start but Vettel set the track on fire and passed the Mercedes with ease on the Kemmel Straight. Behind them everybody cleared La Source without any damage.  Webber dropped to sixth whereas Alonso showed Ferrari‘s real pace by moving up to 5th within two laps. Marussia’s Bianchi and Chilton, who surprised on Saturday with 15th and 16th, immediately moved to the back of the pack.

Within a few laps Vettel managed to get a good lead. Alonso moved up to third after passing Rosberg. DRS helped many drivers pass those ahead of them. There was action up and down the field as drivers pushed hard to get into the DRS zone to boost their straight line speed. 

McLaren’s Sergio Perez was penalized with a drive through penalty for pushing Grosjean off the track after making a move on him into Les Combes.

The first set of pit stops started from lap 10. Hamilton pit and then was held up behind Grosjean for a lap and this helped Alonso close in. Alonso passed Hamilton for 2nd on lap 15 after the Brit made a mistake heading into La Source. Button was one of the late stoppers and this moved him up into 2nd before he pitted for fresh tyres.

Grosjean was the last of the stoppers on lap 22. He was looking to finish the race with just one stop.

After 22 laps, it was Vettel in the lead by over 8 seconds from Alonso. Hamilton was a further 4.1 seconds behind and it looked like he was saving his tyres for later.  Behind them it was Rosberg having a good battle with Webber. Button put his McLaren in 6th ahead of Massa in 7th with Raikkonen right on his tail.  The two Force India’s were in 9th and 10th. At the back of the pack, Charles Pic retired with technical issues.

On lap 25, Kimi Raikkonen brought his car into the pits and was pulled into the garage with what looked like brake issues. This brought an end to his record of 27 consecutive points finishes. 

Three laps later, William’s driver Pastor Maldonado had a tangle with Force India’s Di Resta at the final chicane. This took out Di Resta while Maldonado continued after coming into the pits. Maldonado’s car also touched the other Force India of Sutil. Not a good day for Di Resta after starting from 5th. Maldonado was later handed a 10-second Stop/Go penalty for the incident.

After the second set of pit stops, it was still Vettel ahead of Alonso with Button in 3rd ahead of Hamilton. Vettel was told that he has to finish the race on those tyres and was warned about possible rain. He was still consistently quicker than everybody else.

Webber was pulling in quickly on Rosberg’s Mercedes and was ahead of Button, who made his second stop on lap 35. While Vettel increased his lead to over ten seconds on Alonso.

Ricciardo made a late race charge after breezing past Perez for 10th. Elsewhere Esteban Gutierrez was handed a drive-through penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

After a long 44 lap race, Sebastian Vettel took the chequered flag to take his 31st Grand Prix victory to equal Nigel Mansell’s record. Alonso finished in 2nd after a brilliant drive. Hamilton finished in 3rd.

Vettel finished the race almost 17 seconds ahead of Alonso, which is quite amazing looking at the pace others had this weekend. After the race everybody, including Vettel himself, were surprised by the pace they had. 

Rosberg took 4th after managing to stay ahead of Webber. Button finished in 6th with Massa, Grosjean, Sutil and Ricciardo closing out the top 10. Perez finished in 11th ahead of Vergne, Hulkenburg, Gutierrez, Bottas, Van der Garde and Maldonado. Bianchi and Chilton took the last two spots.

Results:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
2. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
5. Mark Webber, Red Bull
6. Jenson Button, McLaren
7. Felipe Massa, Ferrari
8. Romain Grosjean, Lotus
9. Adrian Sutil, Force India
10. Daniel Ricciardo, Torro Rosso
11. Sergio Perez, McLaren
12. Jean Eric Vergne, Torro Rosso
13. Nico Hulkenburg, Sauber
14. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber
15. Valtteri Bottas, Williams
16. Giedo Van der Garde, Caterham
17. Pastor Maldonado, Williams 
18. Jules Bianchi, Marussia 
19. Max Chilton, Marussia

Ret Paul di Resta, Force India

Ret Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus

Ret Charles Pic, Caterham

This now helps Vettel  retain his top spot on the championship ladder with 197 points, 46 ahead of Alonso. Lewis hamilton is in 3rd with 139 and Raikkonen has dropped back to 4th with 134 points in the championship.

Red Bull lead the championship with 312 points and lead Mercedes by 77 points with 8 races left. Ferrari are a further 17 points behind in 3rd. 

The next race is the fast and racy Italian Grand Prix in under two weeks time at the Monza circuit in Monza, Italy. Will the Ferrari magic come back to stop the Bulls or will Mercedes come back stronger? We will find out soon. 

2013 Belgian Grand Prix Preview

After a long 4 week break, the Formula 1 world is buzzing with activity. From deciding races for next season to signing drivers for next year, the Summer Break saw it all. Now its back to what the drivers love doing, Racing for the Championship. This weekend it is time for the 11th out of the 19 race calender and what better track to welcome the paddock back to the racing scene, the famous Circuit de Spa Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium. Lets take a look at various talking points heading into the weekend.

Red Bull heading to fourth straight title? 

Red Bull Racing entered the season looking to claim their 4th consecutive Drivers and Constructors Championship and now, 10 races down the line Sebastian Vettel has a firm lead of 38 points and Red Bull have a lead of 69 points with 9 races remaining. This kind of a lead is amazing and with many teams shifting focus on next year's car, it looks like Red Bull will once again come out on top. However Lotus, Mercedes and Ferrari are right up there and they will try to come back stronger than ever. Mercedes are their closest rivals and this will continue to be until the end of the year. We will have to wait and watch if Vettel manages to clinch the title with ease or his rivals give him tough competition. 

Vettel's teammate for 2014

One big seat available for 2014 is alongside Vettel at the Championship winning team of Red Bull. With speculation doing the rounds ever since Webber announced his retirement from F1 to switch to WEC, Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo looked probable  candidates. As per recent reports Raikkonen's manager has said that the talks with Red Bull were over sometime ago and Raikkonen will not race for the team. This leaves Ricciardo as their only option. Red Bull driver adviser Helmut Marko has said " We won't say anything before Spa- that's all I can say".  All will be revealed this weekend at Spa.

Circuit Map:

No explanation needed for the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit. One of the fastest and best circuits that fans and drivers love. It has the really fast downhill-uphill section, sweeping corners and also some slow turns. All in all it is the best circuit to race on. 

This 7 km circuit is one of the longest and has two proper straights. One is the Start/Finish Straight and the next is the Kemmel Straight. The two DRS zones this weekend will be on these two straights and will enable drivers to boost speeds and help in overtaking. Another overtaking point will be Bus Stop chicane just before the pit entry. Eau Rouge will a place to watch as always, the strongest of drivers will make a move on their rivals and it will be a treat to watch. 

Sunday's race will be run over 44 laps and the weather looks gloomy with rain expected during the weekend. Rain sure does increase the excitement at Spa and this weekend will be no different.

Last year's pole sitter and  race winner Jenson Button has ruled out a win this time. All the McLaren team need to do is to consistently improve and be on par at the beginning of next year. 

Will Vettel extend his lead or will Mercedes and Lotus spring a surprise? Could this finally be Ferrari's lucky weekend? We will have to wait and find out. 

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix Review: Hamilton wins after a Brilliant drive

After 9 long race weekends, the Formula 1 paddock arrived in the hot city of Budapest to compete in the 10th Grand Prix of the year at the Hungaroring. This race marks the halfway point in the season and after a three week long break, teams will get an additional four weeks off in the month of August. Lets take a look at how the race weekend panned out,

Practice: 

Free Practice 1 began with the Red Bull's on top with Sebastian Vettel followed by Mark Webber. They showed really good pace from the beginning with Lotus and Ferrari right behind. Mercedes, meanwhile, were no where to be found. Both their drivers felt that the car just wasn't there. Later that day in Free Practice 2 it was Red Bull again who topped the session with a 1-2 with Vettel on top again. Again it was Lotus and Ferrari who looked better than the Mercedes team, who at this point where struggling to get the grips of the new tyres. In Free Practice 3 it was Lotus' Romain Grosjean who topped the session followed by Ferrari's Alonso. The Bulls were a little way back and Mercedes began to show some pace. The surprise of this session was McLaren's Sergio Perez putting in the third best time of the session. 

Qualifying: 

Q1 saw the usual suspects in the form of Marussia and Caterham dropping out. Caterham's Charles Pic put in a time which was almost 8 tenths faster than the fastest Marussia. Caterham have surely stepped up their game this year against their rivals. The shock of the session was to see Force India's Paul Di Resta drop out. The Scot complained about the lack of grip on his car. Sauber's Gutierrez was qualified in 17th. 

Q2 gave us a good battle. In the end, both Williams' drivers along with Vergne, Hulkenburg, Sutil and Button failed to qualify for the final session. Button remained positive about his car's performance. 

Q3 started and Mark Webber, who was suffering a KERS issue, decided not to go out. Vettel, initially put his car on top by over 8 tenths. In the final minutes it was Hamilton's amazing lap that put him on top. He eventually stayed on top to take his third consecutive pole this year. The Briton beat Vettel's time by just 0.038s to take his 30th career pole. Grosjean put his car in 3rd alongside Rosberg and ahead of Alonso and Raikkonen. Ricciardo impressed with 8th and Perez put his McLaren in 9th. Hamilton surprised everybody with this pole and said he needed a miracle to win. 

Race:

Lewis Hamilton drove amazingly from start to finish to claim his first victory for the Mercedes team and his 23rd career win. Hamilton had a great start and was able to hold of Vettel in the beginning.This was one part of his job done. 

Hamilton made two important moves that proved successful – the first being his pass on McLaren’s Jenson Button soon after his pit stop and the next one on Mark Webber into Turn 3. Both these moves put him into clear air and helped him take the lead and eventually win the race. 

Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen drove another great race, finishing second after starting in P6. Raikkonen was one of only four drivers to stop only twice. He had a really great battle with Vettel in the closing stages. The Finn gave Vettel no room to overtake and took another 2nd place finish at this circuit.

Vettel came here looking very strong but was beaten by Hamilton in qualifying. Everybody expected him to overtake Hamilton quickly but that wasn’t the case. The German was stuck behind Button for over 12 laps which cost him a lot of time. This inturn affected his charge for the win and eventually he could manage a 3rd place finish.

Mark Webber, who had a disastrous qualifying because of a KERS issue, showed us his true form by pushing hard during the race. He finished fourth, 5.5 seconds behind his teammate Vettel. Webber was right behind Hamilton in second position before pitting for option tyres in the closing stages. Surely the Australian will be happy with his performance.

Ferrari disappointed again. They desperately need to give Fernando Alonso a car he can win with. Alonso must be getting frustrated to watch his Championship rivals increase their lead. He could manage only fifth, which was probably the best his car could do. His teammate Felipe Massa finished in eighth.

Romain Grosjean looked really quick in the beginning, but his aggressive driving style once again cost him a podium. Grosjean went over the white line while making his move on Button and this cost him a post race 20 second penalty. He was also penalized during the race with a drive through penalty for his aggressive move on Massa into turn 4. He finished in 6th even after applying the penalty. 

McLaren seem to have turned things around after putting both their cars in the points today. Jenson Button finished in seventh and Sergio Perez finished ninth, with both stopping only twice and overtaking quite a lot of cars today.  Their immediate rivals Force India had a disastrous day after neither car managed to finish the race. Adrian Sutil’s race was over on the 19th lap after a suspected hydraulics issue ending his 100th Grand Prix early. Di Resta’s car was wheeled into the garage four laps before the end. This now moves the Mclaren team just two points behind Force India in the Constructors Championship.

Williams driver Pastor Maldonado scored the team their first championship point this year after finishing in 10th. This is probably their worst start to a season and they can only hope to turn things around next year when they switch to Mercedes power. Maldonado’s teammate had a smoky end to his race after his car stopped at the exit of the final corner on lap 45.

Sauber had another bad day after failing to score points in the race. Their driver Nico Hulkenburg could manage only 11th whereas his team-mate Esteban Gutierrez’s race was over on lap 30. The team has managed to score points in only four of the 10 races so far. 

Torro Rosso did not have a good day after neither driver finished in the top 10. Their drivers Jean Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo finished 12th and 13th respectively. Ricciardo impressed after qualifying in 8th but disappointed in the race.

Caterham’s Giedo Van Der Garde finished 14th to equal his team’s best performance this season, ahead of his team-mate Charles Pic in 15th.

Marussia’s Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton were the last two finishers in 16th and 17th respectively.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who had a bad start after dropping back to 12th because of contact with Massa, Ended his race early on lap 66 when fire and smoke started emanating from his engine. He was quick to park his car in the run off area down at turn 2 and escaped unhurt. This is his third retirement of the season.

Results: 

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	70	1:42:29.445	1	25
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	70	+10.938	6	18
3	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	70	+12.449	2	15
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	70	+18.044	10	12
5	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	70	+31.411	5	10
6	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	70	+52.2951	3	8
7	5	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+53.819	13	6
8	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+56.447	7	4
9	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren-Mercedes	69	+1 Lap	9	2
10	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	69	+1 Lap	15	1
11	11	Nico Hülkenberg	Sauber-Ferrari	69	+1 Lap	12
12	19	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	69	+1 Lap	14
13	18	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	69	+1 Lap	8
14	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	68	+2 Laps	20
15	20	Charles Pic	Caterham-Renault	68	+2 Laps	19
16	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Cosworth	67	+3 Laps	21
17	23	Max Chilton	Marussia-Cosworth	67	+3 Laps	22
Ret	14	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	66	Hydraulics	18
Ret	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	64	Engine	4
Ret	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	42	Hydraulics	16
Ret	12	Esteban Gutiérrez	Sauber-Ferrari	28	Transmission	17
Ret	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	19	Hydraulics	11

After the race Vettel has increased his lead to 38 points over Raikkonen and 39 points over Ferrari's Alonso. This margin seems quite a lot but in F1 anything is possible. 

Next up is the legendary Belgian Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa Francochamps in late August. There are four long weeks to go before the drivers return to the track. The teams will now return to their bases and take a well-deserved break.

As always though, the factories will shut down but not the minds. Red Bull may announce who drives for them alongside Vettel next season. Will it be Raikkonen or Ricciardo or maybe even Alonso after recent developments? We will have to wait and find out.