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 8th, whilst Nico, who just didn’t have the pace on race day, managed 13th 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 13th and 15th. 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 7th 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 11th.
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 11th. At the Austrian GP this package once again proved its worth when the Le Mans race winner qualified in 5th 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 5th 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 5th 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.
