Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based inSilverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. 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 € 90 million.[4] Force India F1 represents increased Indian participation within Formula One, with Greater Noida having hosted the first Indian Grand Prix in 2011.[5] The Fédération Internationale de India Force India-Mercedes Force India.svg Full name Sahara Force India Formula One Team (2012–) Force India Formula One Team (2008–2011) Base Silverstone, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom Team principal(s) Vijay Mallya COO Otmar Szafnauer Technical director Andrew Green Website www.forceindiaf1.com Previous name Spyker F1 Team 2013 Formula One season Race drivers 14. Germany Adrian Sutil[1] 15. United Kingdom Paul di Resta[2] Test drivers United Kingdom James Rossiter[3] Chassis Force India VJM06 Engine Mercedes-Benz Tyres Pirelli Formula One World Championship career Debut 2008 Australian Grand Prix Latest race 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix Races competed 93 Constructors' Championships 0 Drivers' Championships 0 Race victories 0 Pole positions 1 Fastest laps 2 2012 position 7th (109 pts) l'Automobile confirmed the change in name from Spyker to Force India on 24 October 2007.[6] After going through 29 races without scoring points, Force India won their first Formula One world championship points and podium place whenGiancarlo Fisichella finished second in the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix,[7] Force India scored points again in the following race when Adrian Sutil finished fourth, and set the team's first fastest lap, at the Italian Grand Prix. In October 2011, Indian company Sahara India Pariwar, purchased 42.5% of Force India F1's shares at $US 100 million.[ Origins Jordan Main article: Jordan Grand Prix The team 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 the team to the Midland Group in 2005. Midland F1 & Spyker Main articles: Midland F1 Racing and Spyker F1 The renamed 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.[9] Spyker F1 scored a point in 2007 and briefly led the European Grand Prix; despite this, the team once again hit financing issues,[10] and was sold on to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, Chairman of the United Breweries Group and Michiel Mol, Spyker’s Formula One Director.[4] Force India The team, bought for € 88 million,[11] was renamed as Force India Formula One Team for the 2008 season, and retained team principal Colin Kolles, Chief Technology Officer Mike Gascoyneand driver Adrian Sutil.[11] [edit]Beginnings and Ferrari engines (2008) Adrian Sutil testing for Force India in January 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 driverGiancarlo Fisichella was chosen for the race seat, and Vitantonio Liuzzi secured the reserve role;[12] they were to drive an updated version of the Spyker F8-VIIB chassis with Ferrari engines, christened the Force India VJM01.[13] Testing of the car begun in February, after the gold, tungsten and white liveried car was launched at the Gateway of India in Mumbai.[14] With an increased budget and wind tunnels from defence company EADS,[15] 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.[15] Giancarlo Fisichella leads Adrian Sutil at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. Melbourne was the scene of Force India's first race, and although the Australian Grand Prix gave the team a poor start with both drivers retiring in the first few laps,[16] the following race in Malaysia saw Fisichella's twelfth place earn the team's first finish. After disappointing results in the opening races, Sutil gave the team the chance to score its first points in the wet Monaco Grand Prix, but towards the end of the race Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari lost control and hit Sutil's car causing immediate retirement.[17] Although a furious Gascoyne called for Raikkonen to be penalised,[18] overtakes under yellow flag conditions would have meant Sutil receiving a time penalty post-race, dropping him out of points.[19] Continuous updates to improve reliability and performance allowed the team to close the gap to the fastest teams during the mid-season, despite Super Aguri's withdrawal meaning the two cars started from the rear of the grid for the majority of races. A seamless-shift transmission introduced at Valencia marked the end of development for the car;[20] team owner Mallya had realised underinvestment and continued changes of ownership had led the team to fall behind.[20] Force India had been focusing on 2009 since Mallya brought the team, believing that the new regulations would yield better results.[21][22] Despite halting work on the VJM01, Fisichella put his car to a season-best 12th on the grid at the Italian Grand Prix during an extremely wet qualifying session; he was however to crash out during the race.[23] Fisichella continued his good form by reaching second during the Singapore round and fifth at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix; a safety car before his pit stop prevented points in Singapore, while transmission issues in Brazil left him 18th and two laps down.[24] Force India finished the season tenth place in the Constructors Championship, and Fisichella achieved the best finish of tenth at the Spanish Grand Prix.[24] [edit]Mercedes engines and success (2009) Force India retained the same drivers for the 2009 season.[25] At the wet 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 Grand Prix, Sutil qualified in seventh place and battled for the points, reaching second at one point, before colliding with Kimi Räikkönen after exiting the pit lane 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 Grand Prix in Spa.[26] 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 partially blamed on the car's lack of KERS, a system present on the Ferrari. On 3 September 2009, Force India announced that they were releasing Fisichella from his contract to allow him to race for 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.[27] In qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Sutil qualified second and Liuzzi, on his race 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 transmission failure. Force India finished the season ninth in front of Scuderia Toro Rosso with 13 points, however, this did not reflect the vast improvement Force India had made from the start of the season. [edit]VJM02 Main article: Force India VJM02 Vitantonio Liuzzi at the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix. The VJM02 was powered by Mercedes-Benz engines from the 2009 season after signing a five-year deal on 10 November 2008. The deal also included a supply of McLaren-Mercedes gearboxes, hydraulic systems and the KERS feature. The car was revealed on 1 March 2009.[28] The VJM02 was the first Force India car to pick up points, pole position and fastest lap at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix but the race was won by Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen. [edit]2010 season Vitantonio Liuzzi driving during practice for the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. The team announced on 27 November 2009, that it was to keep Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi for the 2010 season.[29] The team tested Paul di Resta and J. R. Hildebrand at Jerez, with di Resta setting a much faster time.[30] The VJM03 was the team's 2010 Formula One season chassis.[31] Di Resta was confirmed as the team's test driver on 2 February 2010.[32] On 9 February 2010, Force India unveiled their new car, theVJM03, 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 problem, 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. A number of senior personnel left the team during the season, with technical director James Key being the highest-profile member, leaving to join Sauber in a similar role. Chief designer Lewis Butler, head of aerodynamics Marianne Hinson, and commercial director Ian Phillips also left the outfit.[33] [edit]2011 season Adrian Sutil at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. On 26 January 2011, the team announced that reserve driver Paul di Resta would be promoted to a race seat for the 2011 season, to partner Adrian Sutil.[34] The team launched their new car, the VJM04 on 8 February 2011 via an online launch. The VJM04 is the first car created under new technical director Andrew Green and developed using the resources from partners McLaren Applied Technologies and Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines.[35] In the first race of the year in Australia, Sutil and di Resta finished the race in eleventh and twelfth places respectively but were later promoted to ninth and tenth after both Sauber cars were disqualified for a technical infringement relating to the rear wing of both their cars.[36] Di Resta scored more points in Malaysia but he had to retire in Turkey. Sutil finished seventh in Monaco, and ninth in Valencia. Di Resta was bound for points in Britain before a collision with Buemi, while Sutil finished sixth in Germany ahead of the Mercedes cars. Di Resta finished seventh in Hungary, eighth in Italy and took his best race result of sixth in Singapore, while Sutil added a seventh place finish in Belgium and an eighth in Singapore. Di Resta scored another point in Korea, while at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, Sutil scored two points with ninth place.[37] At the final race in Brazil, Sutil matched his best finish of the season with sixth place, while di Resta finished eighth, to help the team finish sixth in the Constructors' Championship, four points in arrears of fifth-placed Renault.[38] [edit]2012 season The Force India VJM05 – seen here driven by Paul di Resta at Jerez during winter testing – with its distinctive "platypus" nose. For their 2012 line-up, the team retained Paul di Resta and replaced Adrian Sutil with their 2011 reserve driver, Nico Hülkenberg.[39] Jules Bianchi was later named as the team's reserve driver, and will also take part in Friday practice for the team during the season.[40] The team's car, the VJM05, was launched at Silverstone on 3 February.[41] The Force India crew tried to pull out of the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix due to a revolution against the regime and the death of a protester.[42] However, after the team's refusal to take to the circuit, there was a confrontation between F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone and the Force India team.[43] [EDIT]SPONSORSHIP AND PARTNERS Kingfisher, a brand owned by Vijay Mallya, is the primary sponsor. Other sponsors for 2008 included ICICI Bank, Medion, Kanyan Capital, Reebok andReliance Industries Limited.[44] The above sponsors, except ICICI Bank and Kanyan Capital, continue to sponsor the team in 2009. New sponsors include AVG, Airbus and Whyte & Mackay. In December 2009, Computational Research Laboratories (CRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, and Force India Formula One Team announced an exclusive three-year multi-million dollar partnership deal to offer a fully automated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solution to aid the design of the team’s next generation race cars as well improve aerodynamic efficiency in the current racing models.[45] Force India F1 has tied up with Airbus and EADS for technological support, and has a technical partnership withMcLaren.[46] In October 2011, Indian company Sahara India Pariwar purchased 42.5% of the team's shares for $100 million.[8] Mallya retains 42.5%, and the remaining 15% belongs to the Mol family. The team was renamed Sahara Force India as a result.[47] The shares sold were newly issued; Mallya and Mol did not sell any of their existing shares.[48] Aethra, a leading Brazilian auto parts manufacturer joined the team as an official partner in 2012.[49] Other sponsors include Kingfisher Airlines, Whyte and Mackay, United Breweries Group,Vladivar Vodka, AVG Technologies, Alpinestars, Reebok, Schroth Racing, Muc-Off, Hackett, Chatham-Marine, UPS Direct, STILL and STL.[50] [EDIT]COMPLETE FORMULA ONE RESULTS (key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 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 Germany Adrian Sutil Ret Ret 19 Ret 16 Ret Ret 19 Ret 15 Ret Ret 13 19 Ret Ret Ret 16 Italy 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 108WV8 B AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON TUR GBR GER HUN EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN BRA ABU 13 9th Germany Adrian Sutil 9 17 17 16 Ret 14 17 17 15 Ret 10 11 4 Ret 13 Ret 17 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 11 18 14 15 14 9 Ret 10 11 14 12 2 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Ret 14 14 11 15 2010 Force India VJM03 Mercedes FO 108X V8 B BHR AUS MAL CHN ESP MON TUR CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR BRA ABU 68 7th Germany Adrian Sutil 12 Ret 5 11 7 8 9 10 6 8 17 Ret 5 16 9 Ret Ret 12 13 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 9 7 Ret Ret 15 9 13 9 16 11 16 13 10 12 Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret 2011 Force India VJM04 Mercedes FO 108Y V8 P AUS MAL CHN TUR ESP MON CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR IND ABU BRA 69 6th Germany Adrian Sutil 9 11 15 13 13 7 Ret 9 11 6 14 7 Ret 8 11 11 9 8 6 United Kingdom Paul di Resta 10 10 11 Ret 12 12 18 14 15 13 7 11 8 6 12 10 13 9 8 2012 Force India VJM05 Mercedes FO 108Z V8 P AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR IND ABU USA BRA 109 7th United Kingdom Paul di Resta 10 7 12 6 14 7 11 7 Ret 11 12 10 8 4 12 12 12 9 15 19 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Ret 9 15 12 10 8 12 5 12 9 11 4 21 14 7 6 8 Ret 8 5 2013 Force India VJM06 Mercedes FO 108Z V8 P AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR IND ABU USA BRA United Kingdom Paul di Resta Germany Adrian Sutil