Formula One car development blog

Force India have brought a new pit light system to the German GP. After extensive testing in the factory, the new system will replace the lollipop and should improve average pitstop times for the team. The lead technician will now press a button to switch the light to green.

A similar system was introduced by Ferrari in 2008 but abandoned after Felipe Massa's early exit from the box at the 2008 Singapore GP tore up a refuelling hose. The Scuderia is however again using the system th... Read more

Force India has secured their year best qualifying session of the year with Liuzzi in 6th and Sutil in 9th position. The F-duct that was introduced in Turkey but only raced by Liuzzi is now on both cars and certainly helped them to make a step forward at Montreal, where low drag on the long straights is vital for good laptimes. The team's system is very similar to that of Ferrari, with inlets on each side of the airbox and a channel going into the rear wing through the shark fin.

Me... Read more

Force India VJM03 had its sidepod panels revised at Barcelona. The revised panels had a larger cut on their top rear end to let more air bleed between the panel and sidepod, aiming mainly to drag reduction. Moreover a small winglet was added lower on the panel to improve airflow towards the rear sides of the car. The VJM03 retained these revised panels for Bahrain Grand Prix.

BMW Sauber already had louvers last year in this area, and this time around it's Force India and McLaren that have extended on this concept. At both teams, the car is fitted with an extra cooling opening on both sides of the cockpit. Just like at McLaren, it's an open outlet with the sides covered with shark gills.

The cooling elements' position is strictly defined by the regulations, as anything farther away from the centre of the car is bound to be a continuous shape, hence not al... Read more