Force India can easily be termed as an entity which has introduced the competitive and cutting edge sport of F1 to millions of Indians
Although most of Indians relate to Force India which is now Sahara Force India to Vijay Mallya and its two drivers Adrian Sutil & Paul Di Resta, there are some hidden and amazing facts which relate Force India to the likes of Michael Schumacher, Narain Karthekeyan, Russian/Dutch/Canadian ownerships and finally a defunct supercar maker.
10 things you didn’t know about Force India :
1. Force India though related to India is a Britain based team and has its operations and engineering based at Silverstone (home of British Motorsport). Only the name and owner have an Indian connection.
2. Force India’s other owner ‘Michiel Mol’s’ previous venture has its contribution to a renowned comapany called “CapGemini” and was married to Miss Netherlands for 7 years.
3. Michiel Mol’s jump-to-fame-asset “Spykar Cars” which was a sports car company went bust and quit F1 to be taken over by Vijay Mallya.
4. Force India dumped none other than Ferrari in favor of its arch rivals in F1 Mercedes for its engine requirements.
5. The aerodynamics and CFD (the technical part of it) for Force India are managed and engineered by a desi company “Computational Research Laboratories” (which is a Tata enterprise)
6. Force India’s technical support partner is not an engineering firm but airplane manufacturer “Airbus”.
7. Force India was purchased by Vijay Mallya from a team which was once called Spykar. Spykar was once Midland F1 and Midland F1 in turn was a Jordan GP car. Jordan was one of the most famous F1 teams in the 1990′s.
8. The basic chasis of Force India car when purchased was a Jordan, which Narain Karthekeyan had raced in 2005. This makes Narain a senior to Vijay Mallya to the car which was later christened VJM01 in honor of the Indian businessman’s name. Jordan has raced with the names like Michael Schumacher and Ruben Barrichello in the past.
9. Force India’s first points were scored by the Italian Giancarlo Fisichella at Belgian GP in 2009. He now is a Ferrari test driver.
10. Force India’s second in line driver “Paul Di Resta” has been a DTM champion. DTM is one of the world’s leading Touring Car Racing series. Also the team’s test driver “Nico Hulkenberg” has raced against Narain Karthekeyan in the A1 GP.
BONUS : During the most coveted race every year at “Monaco”, the most anticipated party is thrown by Force India owner Vijay Mallya on his grand yatch “The Indian Empress”. By the way, the party always has a “desi theme” with tri-colors!
