Force India Reveals VJM03 for 2010! Photo Gallery

Force India have finally unveiled their 2010 Formula One challenger, one day before the second test of the season, at Jerez. The online launch of the VJM03 took place in the early hours of this morning, with the car clearly an evolution of last year's podium clincher VJM02.

The new car features a shark fin engine cover like the ones presented by several other teams during the Valencia test last week. It will again benefit from Mercedes power, and will make its debut from as early as tomorrow, on the Spanish circuit of Jerez de la Frontera.

“The VJM03 is definitely an evolution of the VJM02 in terms of the design philosophies we have developed at Force India over the last year. We are very happy with the direction, therefore we have opted to evolve the car rather than significantly revise,” said Design director Mark Smith.

“Obviously one of the major aspects we have had to contend with are regulation changes which have had a considerable impact on some aspects of the design of the car. The removal of refueling from races increases the amount of fuel needed to be stored in the cars – almost twice the amount we ran in 2009.”

“There is a compromise now: either make the car much longer or wider, or, as we have done, a combination of both. This of course has influenced the mechanical design solutions and also the aerodynamics, specifically with respects to the diffuser and bodywork.”

“Even with the ban of double diffusers for 2011, we recognize that we still have to push as much as we possibly can in this area in 2010 as we have targets to meet and the double diffuser is a key development aspect of the car.”

Team co-owner Vijay Mallya also expressed his enthusiasm over the new car, insisting that the aims for the 2010 season are to pass the performances scored by the team last year.

“I don't think I am being over-proud when I say 2009 was an exceptional year for us. The bare statistics say it all: one podium, one pole position, one fastest lap, a further five top 10 starts and 13 points. We've learnt from our experiences and we've come out a better team: resilient, resourceful and now resurgent. I hope 2010 will see this great progress carrying forward. We've got one podium so far but I would hope that, this time next year, I'm talking about more points and more podiums. I'm confident we can get this, why not aim high?” added Mallya.

Vitanonio Liuzzi will be the first to drive the new car this week, for the first 2 days of the Jerez test, while Adrian Sutil will take over for the last 2 days of the meeting. Test driver Paul di Resta is due to get behind the wheel of the VJM03 on February 17, during the second Jerez test this month.