Force India presented and gave their new Formula One car an early track run on Friday at Silverstone although they only had one driver, Britain’s Paul Di Resta, in attendance. Mystery continues to surround the identity of his likely team mate.
After McLaren had unveiled their MP4-28 car on Thursday with technical director Paddy Lowe nowhere to be seen after being linked to rivals Mercedes, it was Force India’s turn to continue the theme of absence.
Germany’s Adrian Sutil, a former Force India driver, and Ferrari-backed Frenchman Jules Bianchi, last year’s reserve, have both been linked to the vacant seat but the team provided no clues on Friday as to whom they favoured.
The choice ultimately is likely to favour whoever can bring most sponsorship, or other forms of backing, with them.
Instead, the car was the star – with the wraps coming off the VJM06 on a cold and damp Silverstone morning before the Mercedes-powered car was wheeled out of the garage to be fired up for the first laps by any team this year.
It immediately stood out for its ‘nose job’ – a ‘modesty panel’ turning what was a stepped nose last season into a smooth and flowing front end.
Lotus, the first of the teams to show off their new car on Monday, eschewed such cosmetic surgery on the grounds that it was only added weight but Force India technical director Andrew Green said it was there for performance as well as aesthetics.
“Our’s is purely performance driven and really the performance is not on the top of the chassis, it’s what you can do underneath,” said technical director Andrew Green.
“And by pushing the chassis to its limits it allows us to get the aerodynamic performance. Putting the panel on top cleans up the flow over the top of the chassis. It’s a small thing, but to us it’s important.”
Di Resta, starting his third season with the team owned by Indian aviation and liquor baron Vijay Mallya, said that the car looked sharp.
“It’s an evolution of the car from last year,” said the Scot. “It’s not a completely different philosophy. But there’s small details.
“The ideal thing is to get it on track, see what it’s all about and then slowly and surely get us through our test objectives.”
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