Spanish GP: Force India keeps improving its VJM2!

Upon arrival in Europe, Force India is the last undisputed team on the F1 grid. Its place in the championship reflects this as it is last in the standings, having scored no points. The two drivers, Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella, are also at the bottom of the Driver’s Championship table, but alongside other drivers (Kubica, Massa, Piquet, and Nakajima).

Force India is still waiting for its first point in the race. This weekend in Spain, the team will continue to bring improvements to its cars, but this is without considering the advancements from almost all the other teams. Perhaps there’s a chance to see teams struggling with their new aerodynamic package. Force India might take advantage to gain a few positions…

Adrian Sutil – Race Car Driver

Barcelona is a track we know very well since we do winter testing there. This year, I did nearly 1000 km! This means you can go on track with a set-up that is relatively well prepared. I love this circuit, it’s fluid except for the chicane at the end. The crowd is always impressive, it creates a buzz when you’re driving!

« The modifications made to the single-seater in Bahrain gave us nearly four tenths in terms of pure improvement. We must continue to introduce new parts because other teams will not wait for us. Everyone is moving forward, staying focused, and trying to make the most of what we have. »

Giancarlo Fisichella – Racing Driver:

I love going to Barcelona because it means a return to Europe. I set two fastest laps in races on this circuit, in 1997 and 2005. So I feel comfortable on this track. Barcelona is a beautiful circuit in itself. There are some interesting corners, like 1 and 2, and some fast corners like corners 3 and 9. There’s a hairpin to be taken in first or second gear. Unfortunately, the new chicane at corners 14 and 15 disrupts the rhythm over a lap, so it’s not as exciting as it was a few years ago.

In Bahrain, we ran with a much better car than in previous races, but we still need another step forward and then we will be able to fight for points. Last year, we had a good race finishing 10th. As we’ve seen, reliability will be the key factor, so we shouldn’t make any predictions. It won’t be easy as the other teams will almost have version 2 cars, I think a good result would be in the top 12.

Vijay Mallya – Team principal:

« I was very happy to see the clear improvement in Bahrain with the new aerodynamic diffuser and updates. Achieving results like those of our drivers on the Sakhir circuit was a great challenge, especially for a team with a limited budget and workforce like Force India. This was of course our first step in terms of development and for Barcelona, we will have even more updates based on the information collected in Bahrain. We will run our drivers with different settings. There will be a new modification of the front wing. This is only part of our ongoing development cycle and there will be more upgrades at most races. »