Force India shows new VJ10 at Silverstone

Force India unveiled its new VJ10 at Silverstone on Wednesday as a busy week of F1 car reveals continues.

Designed by a team led by technical director Andy Green, the Mercedes-powered car has the challenge of matching Force India’s impressive fourth place in last year’s World Championship. Esteban Ocon joins Sergio Perez in the driving lineup, with Alfonso Celis continuing as test driver.

“I can’t remember being more excited ahead of a new season,” said team boss Vijay Mallya. “The VJM10 looks aggressive and purposeful, and is the result of a huge effort behind the scenes over the last 12 months. We have big hopes for this car, which looks stunning in its new livery.”

Regarding hopes for 2017 he said: “Simply repeating our performance level of 2016 will be a big task in itself. I don’t want to set goals or targets other than to say that we intend to maintain the momentum we have built up in recent years and carry it into the new season. There are too many unknowns to say more than this.”

“It’s definitely a big overhaul; one that requires a change in mentality,” said Green. “It took a bit of time to adjust at first, but we are there now and I am confident we know where to look and where the performance is coming from with this car. The development slope is incredibly steep and we are going to see significant updates to the cars at regular intervals, right from the start; it’s going to be big updates and I don’t think development will start to taper off any time soon.”