Formula One car development blog

Force India have only recently come up with their wheel fairings, but are already heavily experimenting with them. While the initial version very much resembled that of Red Bull, the Singapore circuit required modifications to make sure the front brakes are adequately cooled. The 'hot-spec' version is basically a half fairing, as it only covers half of the wheel. Due to the nature of the remaining circuits though, it appears unlikely that the team will use this version again as more... Read more

Force India have come up with a very elegant solution to add a bit of downforce to the central part of the car. Only three weeks after introducing their new sidepods, the sidepod panel is now connected to the rear view mirror. The new aerofoil can be seen as an evolution of a flipup that many teams used during the Grand Prix of monaco. It helps to create downforce while also pulling up air above the sidepod to improve the rear wing's efficiency.

Force India have finally got rid of the huge chimneys that the car is featuring since the inauguration of the team. The team now developed a new sidepod cover that effectively closes the chimneys and adds a considerable amount of shark gills to provide enough cooling for the engine.
The upper image is the new design as seen at the British GP, while below is the version used at the French GP. The image clearly shows how the winglet's outer endplate is now a continuation of the closed... Read more

Although Mike Gascoyne already announced a couple of major updates for this week's Silverstone test, we were a bit surprised to see Force India with an extended engine cover. Similar to Red Bull and Renault, the team developed a windscreen that helps stabilise the car while cornering. The uprise of these designs can also be explained by this year's banning of traction control which tends to put the car more regularly under yaw than was previously the case.

Force India continue their development programme on the VJM-01 and introduced a new set of front wing endplates. The new design - in the upper part of the image - sees the removal of the long used bulge at the top end of the endplate. A small winglet behind the horizontal stabiliser was added for that bit of extra downforce. Also noted is a gurney flap that the team added to the wing when used in combination with the new endplate. At the race however, Sutil opted for the previous - ... Read more

The team's takeover by Vijay Mallya during the winter has certainly proved to have its effect on the development of the car. While the launched car did not have much new bits, the version of the VJM-01 that made the track debut did. First off, the team looked closely to what McLaren have been doing with their sidepod panels and therefore also elongated the panel onto the sidepod to connect to the chimney. The element is also very similar to Williams' design. Additionally, the car ha... Read more