BlogF1

Force India have announced some major changes to the structure of their team today, both on the management front and with regards to the technical alliance with McLaren that has been on the tables for some time now. Vijay Mallya’s team have now parted ways with 2008 engine supplier Ferrari, and the squad are free to join forces with McLaren and Mercedes. Also, Colin Kolles and Mike Gascoyne have left as part of a major reshuffle in the management of the team. Continue Reading

In their latest guise, Force India took to the Australian grid earlier this year in a shower of glitz, glamour and gutsy goals. Eight months later, and very few of the goals have been met, but that doesn’t mean Force India have endured a bad year, far from it. In fact, the back-row minnows have, at times, looked pretty healthy in terms of pace. Unfortunately to the throng of fans the world over, the occasional upturn in pace doesn’t make a season, but things aren’t looking too bad for the Silverstone-based squad. Continue Reading

Force India were expected to announce this weekend a technical alliance with McLaren and Mercedes for the 2009 season. The deal, that has been at the negotiation tables for some time now, would see the Silverstone-based outfit receive a complete engine, KERS and transmission package - it could even extend to a customer car depending on the regulation changes. However, Force India’s current contract with Ferrari needs to be dealt with first before any signatures can be put on McLaren headed paper. Continue Reading

The former Jordan, Midland and Spyker team - now called Force India - have been optimistic of achieving a place in the second round of qualifying since they landed in Australia last month. The team have performing fairly well considering where they started from and Vijay Mallya’s squad should be pleased with what they’ve already managed. Giancarlo Fisichella has been able to haul the VJM-01 into two 17th places and an 18th on the grid for the three races so far, but on the recent attempt in Bahrain the experienced Italian was only a couple of tenths away from getting into Q2. And in their build-up to the Spanish Grand Prix, Force India are once again hoping they can achieve their first milestone. Continue Reading

Former team owner Eddie Jordan may not have been around for a few years, having sold his squad to Midland in 2005, and since seen it passed around like a bad cold to Spyker and now to Vijay Mallya. But it seems as though the Irishman wasn’t entirely out of the picture as news today reports of a problem at the Force India factory in Northamptonshire. The factory was once owned by Jordan and went with the sale of the team. However, it now seems as though the former-team owner still owns a part of the land the building sits on. Which is apparently a problem for Eddie… Continue Reading

Former Renault driver and race winner Giancarlo Fisichella has been confirmed as a Force India driver for 2008, it has finally been reported. The Italian, who has spent time at Jordan, Sauber, Benetton and Renault was essentially booted out of the French team following Flavio Briatore’s decision to reinvigorate the squad with Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jr. However, last December Giancarlo tested for Force India and drove well, impressing the teams new owner Vijay Mallya and embarrassing Ralf Schumacher. Fisichella will partner Adrian Sutil who has a long-term contract with the team. Continue Reading

In the first news round-up of 2008 we take a brief look at some of the stories that hit the headlines over the Christmas and new year period. Toyota have dominated much of the media with sponsors moving around, Williams also made news today by opting out of a big launch and Ralf Schumacher remains in the sports shadows, speaking for the first time about his ‘time out’ decision. Continue Reading