Force India’s mean machine revealed

Despite the politically silly and unusually chilly season, Mumbai witnessed...

Despite the politically silly and unusually chilly season, Mumbai witnessed a momentous moment when the Force India unveiled its Formula One car, the VJM01 under a starry sky at the Gateway of India on Thursday. “This is a passionate, emotional and proud moment for me,” stated a beaming Vijay Mallya, the Chairman and Managing Director of the Force India Formula One team before the launch of a very mean-looking machine, glittering in its striking new livery of gold, tungsten and white.

“Five years ago, if anyone had asked the question whether India could have a Formula One team of its own, the answer would have been ‘no way’,” said Mallya, mentioning how 30 years ago he started racing in a Premier Padmini and harboured a dream of putting India on the F1 grid. Sceptics at that time said if would be difficult to cough up the required Rs 480 crore budget that would be required to buy a team.

Mallaya pointed out that he was motivated by not only billion hearts in this venture, but also by the fantastic support team assembled at Silverstone. “Our drivers certainly have the talent, but what we lack is experience and that’s the reason why chose the likes of Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi,” said Mallya.

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Another area where the team was weak was in the aerodynamics and CFD development of the car but with the help of aviation leaders EADS and Airbus, Mallya felt Force India would soon be at par with the other elite teams.

Stating that F1 racing had a bright future in the country boasting of a middle-class population around 400 million, Mallya hoped one day this sport too would gain a similar status that cricket enjoys in India today. “I can assure you that when we host a Formula One Grand Prix in 2010, Force India will definitely finish on the podium,” promised he.

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