Introducing the Force India VJM05

The VJM05 is the second car from Sahara Force India to be created under the direction of Technical Director Andrew Green, who joined in June 2010.

For a fourth year the team is using a Mercedes engine and a gearbox supplied by McLaren Applied Technologies, while this will be the second season with the Mercedes KERS, which was used for the first time in 2011.

Like the other teams, Sahara Force India has had to deal with two major changes to the FIA Technical Regulations. The FIA has banned exhaust blowing of diffusers, so exhausts now have to be routed away from the floor. In addition, the front of the nose can only be 550mm high, which has led to a very different look for all 2012 cars.

The VJM05 was designed and built to a different schedule compared with previous years, as the FIA Sporting Regulations now mandate that all crash tests be passed before a car is allowed to test, rather than before the first race. This meant that key items had to be signed off and built earlier, leaving a margin should any changes be required. All the team’s crash tests were successfully passed in December.

In the winter of 2010-‘11 the team decided to make a major change in its design philosophy, and that change of direction cost some development time. However the decision to take a step back in order to take two steps forward paid off as the VJM04 became more competitive over the course of last season, and the team ultimately secured sixth place in the World Championship.

“This year we haven’t done that, so it’s been more of a traditional winter development programme,” says Chief Operating Officer, Otmar Szafnauer. “However, it’s been shortened, because we finished last season nearly in December!

“The new car has come together nicely. It’s all about how much we develop it under the new regulations versus what the others have done, which will be difficult to judge until the first race. But from our perspective we’ve made some gains over the winter. Our objective is to start our season strongly and continue our development.”

With the VJM04 having finished the season so well, the focus has been on following a proven path and clawing back downforce losses associated with the blown diffuser rule change.

“The approach is to use that foundation and carry on building on it,” says Andrew Green. “We have a lot more confidence in the aerodynamics we put on the car now, compared to previous years. I think that showed from the time we changed the car in Barcelona and for the rest of the season. We were putting updates on at almost every race and the performance was improving.

“We’re happy with the strategy we’ve got and we’re pushing the boundaries even further. So we’re going to use what we learned last year as the foundation. There’s been a bit of clawing back to do with the exhaust regulations and that’s been the main focus of attention over the winter.”

Summing up the approach to 2012, Green says: “I would say that the car looks a lot more refined than previous cars produced here. It does look a lot racier and a lot more purposeful. You can start to see the aerodynamic concepts coming through now. It looks quite a bit different to the previous years, which is good.

“And so far the performance in the tunnel has been encouraging. It’s just that unknown of where everyone else is – and we won’t know that until Melbourne.”