Force India have today launched the VJM03 – their 2010 challenger.
F0rce India design director Mark Smith said that the design process was a lot smoother than that of last season:
“It’s been a lot smoother. From the very beginning we designed the VJM03 in full knowledge of the engine and gearbox that we would be using for 2010, which gave us a significant advantage by comparison with respect to the same point in design time for VJM02. Fundamentally, key relationships are established and data is available to us much earlier. The result of this is a much smoother design and development process.”
Mark Smith
Smith also told us about the changes from the 2009 VJM02 and this season’s VJM03:
“It’s a natural progression in areas which seemed to have strong trends at the end of 2009, and in other areas it’s quite different. The back of the car is the area that has evolved most as everyone has had a year of experience with the double diffusers so we’ve all gone into 2010 much wiser to what we can do. There have been some refinements in that area and it’s formed part of the make-up of the car this time around, rather than being added very quickly, as happened at the beginning of last year. It’s natural now to design the car to take these devices. The gearbox is now a little bit easier to work around, and there are tweaks to make the diffuser potential bigger. So there are some notable differences.”
Mark Smith
Otmar Szafnauer joined Force India as Chief Operating Officer in October, and explained why the team opted to miss the first pre-season test which took place in Valencia:
“It was a strategic decision. By missing the first test, we can gain a little bit more development time – a little bit longer in the tunnel, a little bit longer thinking about what’s important on the car. It was just a trade-off decision. We completed a shakedown day, before the testing started that regains a little bit of what we’ve lost.”
Otmar Szafnauer
Adrian Sutil who will drive alongside Tonio Liuzzi in the VJM03 this season gave his hopes for 2010:
“I hope we will have a good season and I am pretty confident we will. We have had a good winter and a very good development programme so expectations are high. The car looks great, we did a positive step with the wind tunnel simulations but let’s test and see where we are. I know we need to perform well and from my side I have tried to be perfectly prepared.”
Adrian Sutil
VJM03 Technical Specification
| Chassis | Carbon fibre composite monocoque with Zylon legality side anti-intrusion panels. |
| Front suspension | Aluminium uprights with carbon fibre composite wishbones, trackrod and pushrod. Inboard chassis mounted torsion springs, dampers and anti-roll bar assembly. |
| Rear suspension | Aluminium uprights with carbon fibre composite wishbones, trackrod and pushrod. Inboard gearbox mounted torsion springs, dampers and anti-roll bar assembly. |
| Wheel base | 3500mm |
| Front track | 1480mm |
| Rear track | 1420mm |
| Overall height | 950mm |
| Overall length | 4900mm |
| Overall weight | 620kg (with driver, by regulations) |
| Wheels | BBS forged wheels to Force India specification |
| Engine supplier | Mercedes Benz High Performance Engines V8 2.4-litre |
| Transmission | McLaren Racing 7-speed, semi-automatic, ‘e-shift’ |
| Lubricants | Mobil 1 products |
| Spark plugs | NGK |
| Clutch | AP Racing carbon clutch |
| Tyres | Bridegestone Potenza |
| Brake system | AP Racing |
| Brake material | Carbone Industrie |
| Dampers | Penske |
Images (C) Force India
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excellent again nice pics,2 solid drivers should get some points finishes
They should get the points but mainly because the point system has changed. I hope they make steps forward from last year. This doesn’t appear to be a radical design so it will be interesting to see how they get on and just what developments they have in line.
As for looks, it just doesn’t inspire me. The only thing in the pictures I like is Liuzzi’s helmet