Force India facts for kids
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| Full name | Force India Formula One Team (2008–2011) Sahara Force India Formula One Team (2012–2018) |
|---|---|
| Base | Silverstone, United Kingdom |
| Founder(s) | Vijay Mallya & Michiel Mol |
| Noted staff | Steve Curnow Bob Fernley Mike Gascoyne Andrew Green James Key Colin Kolles Subrata Roy Otmar Szafnauer |
| Noted drivers |  Sergio Pérez Esteban Ocon Giancarlo Fisichella Nico Hülkenberg Vitantonio Liuzzi Paul di Resta Adrian Sutil |
| Previous name | Spyker F1 Team |
| Next name | Racing Point Force India |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 2008 Australian Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 203 |
| Engines | Ferrari & Mercedes |
| Constructors' Championships |
0 (best finish: 4th, 2016 and 2017) |
| Drivers' Championships |
0 |
| Race victories | 0 (best finish: 2nd, 2009 Belgian Grand Prix) |
| Podiums | 6 |
| Points | 987 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 5 |
| Final entry | 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix |
Force India Formula One Team Limited, also known as Force India and later Sahara Force India, was a Formula One racing team. It was based in Silverstone, United Kingdom, and raced under an Indian licence. The team started in October 2007. This happened when a group led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Dutch businessman Michiel Mol bought the Spyker F1 team.
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After 29 races without scoring points, Force India earned its first Formula One points. This happened when Giancarlo Fisichella finished second at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. This was also the team's first podium finish. Force India scored points again in the next race. Adrian Sutil finished fourth and set the team's first fastest lap at the Italian Grand Prix. The team achieved five more third-place finishes. These were in the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, 2015 Russian Grand Prix, 2016 Monaco Grand Prix, 2016 European Grand Prix, and 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. All these podiums were achieved by Sergio Pérez.
In October 2011, an Indian company called Sahara India Pariwar bought 42.5% of Force India F1's shares.
By July 2018, before the Hungarian Grand Prix, the team faced financial difficulties. They announced that they had been placed into administration by the High Court in London. This meant a special manager took over to help sort out the team's finances.
A group of investors, called Racing Point UK, bought the team's assets. This group was led by Lawrence Stroll, whose son Lance Stroll was a Williams driver at the time. The investors used these assets to create a new team in the sport. This new team was named Racing Point Force India. The original Force India team, which started in 2008, stopped existing before the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. The new team then changed its name to "Racing Point".
Contents
- Team History
- How Force India Started
- 2008 Season: First Steps
- 2009 Season: First Podium!
- 2010 Season: Steady Progress
- 2011 Season: Climbing Higher
- 2012 Season: More Points
- 2013 Season: Back to Sixth
- 2014 Season: Another Podium!
- 2015 Season: Best Finish Yet
- 2016 Season: Fourth Place!
- 2017 Season: Another Fourth Place
- 2018 Season: The End of an Era
- Team Sponsors
- Racing Results
- Driver Development
- See also
Team History
How Force India Started
The team's story began with the Jordan Grand Prix team. Jordan started racing in Formula One in 1991. Their base was at the Silverstone track. Jordan had many good years in Formula One. They won four races and finished third in the 1999 Constructors' Championship.
However, like many smaller teams in the 2000s, Jordan faced money problems. The team's performance dropped. The owner, Eddie Jordan, sold the team to the Midland Group in early 2005.
The Midland-owned team was renamed Midland F1 Racing in 2006. They spent two seasons at the back of the grid. Then, owner Alex Shnaider sold the team to Spyker Cars in the middle of the 2006 season.
Spyker F1 scored a point in 2007. They even briefly led the European Grand Prix Grand Prix. Despite this, the team again had financial issues. It was then sold to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol. Mallya was the chairman of the United Breweries Group. Mol was Spyker's Formula One Director.
The team was bought for €88 million. It was renamed the Force India Formula One Team for the 2008 season. They kept team principal Colin Kolles, Chief Technology Officer Mike Gascoyne, and drivers Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella.
2008 Season: First Steps
Force India kept Adrian Sutil for their first season. They tested other drivers for the second race seat and testing roles. Former Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella was chosen as the main driver. Vitantonio Liuzzi became the reserve driver. They used an updated version of the Spyker F8-VIIB car. It had Ferrari engines and was called the Force India VJM01. The car was launched in February in Mumbai, India. It had gold, tungsten, and white colors. The team aimed to do better than Super Aguri.
Force India's first race was in Melbourne. Both drivers retired early in the Australian Grand Prix Grand Prix. In the next race in Malaysia, Fisichella finished twelfth. This was the team's first completed race. Sutil almost scored points in the wet Monaco Grand Prix race. But Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari crashed into Sutil's car. This forced Sutil to retire. Force India finished the season in tenth place in the Constructors' Championship. Fisichella's best finish was tenth at the Spanish Grand Prix Grand Prix.
2009 Season: First Podium!
Force India kept the same drivers for the 2009 season. The VJM02 car used Mercedes-Benz engines. This was part of a five-year deal signed in November 2008. The deal also included McLaren-Mercedes gearboxes and other systems. The car was shown on March 1, 2009.
At the wet Chinese Grand Prix Grand Prix, Sutil was close to scoring Force India's first points. He was in sixth place with six laps left. But his car slid off the track and crashed due to aquaplaning. At the German Grand Prix Grand Prix, Sutil qualified seventh. He fought for points and even reached second place. However, he collided with Kimi Räikkönen after leaving the pit lane. He finished 15th.
Force India achieved their first pole position in Formula One at the Belgian Grand Prix Grand Prix. This happened at Spa-Francorchamps. Fisichella qualified fastest. He finished the race in second place, just under a second behind Kimi Räikkönen. This earned Force India their first points and podium finish ever.
On September 3, 2009, Force India announced that Fisichella was leaving. He would race for Ferrari for the rest of the season. Four days later, test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi was announced as his replacement.
In qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix Grand Prix at Monza, Sutil qualified second. Liuzzi, in his first race for the team, qualified seventh. In the race, Sutil finished fourth and set the fastest lap. Liuzzi had to retire due to a gearbox problem. Force India finished the season ninth with 13 points. This showed how much the team had improved.
2010 Season: Steady Progress
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The team announced on November 27, 2009, that Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi would stay for the 2010 season. Paul di Resta was confirmed as the team's test driver. On February 9, 2010, Force India showed their new car, the VJM03.
The 2010 season started with points in Bahrain. Liuzzi finished ninth. In Australia, Liuzzi finished seventh. In Malaysia, Sutil scored ten points by finishing fifth. At Monaco, both cars finished in the points. This was the team's first time getting points with both cars in a race. In Montreal, both cars again finished in the points.
Force India finished the season in seventh place with 68 points.
2011 Season: Climbing Higher
On January 26, 2011, the team announced that reserve driver Paul di Resta would become a main driver for the 2011 season. He would race alongside Adrian Sutil. The team launched their new car, the VJM04, online on February 8, 2011. This car was the first designed under new technical director Andrew Green.
In the first race in Australia, Sutil and di Resta finished eleventh and twelfth. They were later moved up to ninth and tenth after two Sauber cars were disqualified. Di Resta scored more points in Malaysia. Sutil finished seventh in Monaco and ninth in Valencia. Di Resta achieved his best race result of sixth in Singapore. Sutil also had strong finishes. At the final race in Brazil, Sutil finished sixth and di Resta finished eighth. This helped the team finish sixth in the Constructors' Championship.
2012 Season: More Points
For 2012, the team kept Paul di Resta. They replaced Adrian Sutil with their 2011 reserve driver, Nico Hülkenberg. Jules Bianchi was named the team's new reserve driver. The team's car, the VJM05, was launched at Silverstone on February 3.
The Force India team considered not racing in the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix. This was due to civil unrest in the country. However, they did race after discussions with F1 officials.
In the last race of the season, the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, Hülkenberg had a great race. He started sixth and quickly moved up. He even led the race for a while. He finished fifth after a collision with Lewis Hamilton.
Force India finished their 2012 season in seventh place with 109 points.
2013 Season: Back to Sixth
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The 2013 driver line-up included Paul di Resta for his third year. Adrian Sutil returned to the team, replacing Nico Hülkenberg. The team's new car, the VJM06, was launched on February 1, 2013.
At the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix Grand Prix, Sutil finished seventh and di Resta finished eighth. This was the team's best start to a season ever. At the fourth race in Bahrain, di Resta finished fourth.
Force India finished their 2013 season in sixth place with 77 points.
2014 Season: Another Podium!
Nico Hülkenberg returned to the team for 2014. Paul di Resta was replaced by Sergio Pérez. Adrian Sutil moved to Sauber. Daniel Juncadella was signed as a reserve driver.
The season started in Australia. Hülkenberg finished sixth and Pérez finished tenth. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Pérez put Force India on the podium with a third-place finish. This was the team's first podium since 2009. Force India did well after big rule changes for hybrid engines. They finished in sixth place with 155 points.
2015 Season: Best Finish Yet
On October 19, 2014, the team confirmed Hülkenberg would stay for 2015. On November 7, 2014, Force India announced that Pérez would also stay for the 2015 season. Pérez signed a two-year contract.
Force India missed the first pre-season test. This was due to delays in building their new car, the Force India VJM08. It was later said that the team faced financial challenges. Their 2015 car finally appeared at the third test in Barcelona. It was an updated version of the previous year's car. They had a good start with Hülkenberg finishing seventh in the Australian Grand Prix.
At the Russian Grand Prix, Pérez put Force India on the podium again with a third-place finish. This was their first podium since the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix. This improved performance helped Force India achieve their best finish of 5th place in the Constructors' Championship with 136 points. This was a great achievement given the team's financial situation and late car preparations.
2016 Season: Fourth Place!
Force India kept Hülkenberg and Pérez for a third season in 2016. This turned out to be the team's most successful season so far. They finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship with 173 points.
Pérez scored two podium finishes. The first was at the Monaco Grand Prix Grand Prix, where he finished third. This was the first time the team had a podium at Monaco. Pérez finished third again two races later at the European Grand Prix Grand Prix in Baku. At the Belgian Grand Prix Grand Prix, both cars finished in the top five. Hülkenberg was fourth and Pérez was fifth. As a result, the team took fourth place in the Constructors' Championship. This was their highest ever finishing position.
2017 Season: Another Fourth Place
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In 2017, Hülkenberg left Force India to join Renault. Esteban Ocon was signed to replace him. This was Ocon's first full season in Formula One. Pérez stayed at Force India for his fourth season.
The VJM10 car changed to a pink color. This was due to a new sponsorship deal with BWT. Fans and commentators often called the cars the 'Pink Panther'.
Ocon and Pérez finished the first five races of the season in the points. At the Spanish Grand Prix Grand Prix, Pérez finished fourth and Ocon had a career-best fifth. This run of points ended at the Monaco Grand Prix Grand Prix. The two drivers had some collisions in later races. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Grand Prix, both drivers crashed into each other. Ocon recovered to finish sixth. At the Belgian Grand Prix Grand Prix, they collided again.
The team secured fourth place in the Constructors' Championship for the second year in a row. This happened at the Mexican Grand Prix Grand Prix. The team's total points at the end of this season was 187, their best ever.
2018 Season: The End of an Era
For the 2018 season, the team kept Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon. At the first race in Australia, they finished 11th and 12th.
The team faced serious financial issues during the Hungarian Grand Prix. To help the team keep going, a legal process called administration was started. This allowed a new owner to be found. A group of investors led by Lawrence Stroll bought the team's assets.
Before the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix, the team's future was uncertain. The investors could not buy the shares of the old company in time. So, they bought only the team's assets. The team then had to race under a new name. It became "Racing Point Force India F1 Team". The FIA removed the old Force India entry from the championship. They welcomed the new team. The new team was allowed to race but could not keep the points from the old team. This marked the end of the Force India team that started in 2008.
Team Sponsors
Kingfisher, a brand owned by Vijay Mallya, was the main sponsor. Other sponsors in 2008 included ICICI Bank, Medion, Kanyan Capital, Reebok, and Reliance Industries Limited. Many of these continued to sponsor the team. New sponsors included AVG, Airbus, and Whyte & Mackay.
In December 2009, Computational Research Laboratories (CRL) and Force India announced a partnership. CRL helped design the team's race cars using advanced computer methods. Force India also worked with Airbus and EADS for technology support. They had a technical partnership with McLaren.
In October 2011, Sahara India Pariwar bought 42.5% of the team's shares. Mallya kept 42.5%, and the Mol family owned the remaining 15%. The team was then renamed Sahara Force India.
Other sponsors over the years included Aethra, United Breweries Group, Vladivar Vodka, Alpinestars, Reebok, and Smirnoff. Univa and NEC Corporation also partnered with the team.
Hype Energy Drinks sponsored Force India from 2015. Their CEO, Bertrand Gachot, was a former Formula 1 driver. He had driven for the Jordan team, which was a predecessor to Force India.
On March 14, 2017, Force India announced a new sponsorship with BWT AG. This made the VJM10 car a bright pink color. This led to the 'Pink Panther' nickname. Another new sponsor for 2017 was the whisky brand Johnnie Walker.
Racing Results
| Year | Name | Car | Engine | Tyres | No. | Drivers | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 |  Force India Formula One Team |
VJM01 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | B | 20 21 |
Adrian Sutil Giancarlo Fisichella |
0 | 10th |
| 2009 | Force India Formula One Team |
VJM02 | Mercedes FO 108W 2.4 V8 | B | 20 21 21 |
Adrian Sutil Giancarlo Fisichella Vitantonio Liuzzi |
13 | 9th |
| 2010 | Force India Formula One Team |
VJM03 | Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 | B | 14 15 |
Adrian Sutil Vitantonio Liuzzi |
68 | 7th |
| 2011 | Force India Formula One Team (1–15) Sahara Force India Formula One Team (16–19) |
VJM04 | Mercedes FO 108Y 2.4 V8 | P | 14 15 |
Adrian Sutil Paul di Resta |
69 | 6th |
| 2012 | Sahara Force India F1 Team |
VJM05 | Mercedes FO 108Z 2.4 V8 | P | 11 12 |
Paul di Resta Nico Hülkenberg |
109 | 7th |
| 2013 | Sahara Force India F1 Team |
VJM06 | Mercedes FO 108F 2.4 V8 | P | 14 15 |
Paul di Resta Adrian Sutil |
77 | 6th |
| 2014 | Sahara Force India F1 Team |
VJM07 | Mercedes PU106A Hybrid 1.6 V6t | P | 11 27 |
Sergio Pérez Nico Hülkenberg |
155 | 6th |
| 2015 | Sahara Force India F1 Team |
VJM08 VJM08B |
Mercedes PU106B Hybrid 1.6 V6t | P | 11 27 |
Sergio Pérez Nico Hülkenberg |
136 | 5th |
| 2016 | Sahara Force India F1 Team |
VJM09 | Mercedes PU106C Hybrid 1.6 V6t | P | 11 27 |
Sergio Pérez Nico Hülkenberg |
173 | 4th |
| 2017 | Sahara Force India F1 Team |
VJM10 | Mercedes M08 EQ Power+ 1.6 V6t | P | 11 31 |
Sergio Pérez Esteban Ocon |
187 | 4th |
| 2018 | Sahara Force India F1 Team |
VJM11 | Mercedes M09 EQ Power+ 1.6 V6t | P | 11 31 |
Sergio Pérez Esteban Ocon |
0 | Ex |
Driver Development
During its time in F1, Force India supported many young drivers. They gave them chances to test Formula One cars. These drivers include:
Former Young Drivers
| Driver | Years | Current series |
|---|---|---|
| Jehan Daruvala |
2012–2018 | None |
 Steven Goldstein |
2015 | None |
| Alfonso Celis Jr. |
2015–2017 | None |
 Nikita Mazepin |
2016–2018 | None |
 Lucas Auer |
2017 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters |
 Nicholas Latifi |
2018 | None |
See also
In Spanish: Force India Formula One Team para niños
