Force India... A Season Of Surprise.

A quick background....

Force India Formula One Team Limited, what we have come to know as Force India, was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol bought the Spyker F1 team for € 88 million. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile confirmed the change in name from Spyker to Force India on 24 October 2007. Yet they did not launch the inaugural chassis, the VJM01 until 2008.

All it took was two complete seasons for the team to fight from the very end of the grid up to seventh. Something that fantastic and astounding when you think back to the 2008 and even the 2009 season. Whenever there was a car go off track or a collision, many of the fans knew that it most presumably involved a Force India car. The team had retired 18 out of 32 times in their 2008 premier season.

Jump ahead a few years to 2010....

15 out of 38 point positions were obtained in the 2010 season landing the team in 7th position for the World Constructor's Title.

Race after race, the coverage would somehow involve Force India but in a different way. It seemed that it would only take two years before the team that we all shake our heads at would have a driver challenging driver's such as Barrichello, Schumacher and even Hamilton in Malaysia by finishing a full 2 seconds ahead of him.

Malaysia, case in point, lap 34 of 56, Hamilton had closed the gap out of pits and was, for 12 laps, attempting to pass Sutil. Sutil held off Hamilton and scored the highest rank in Force India history. Three races into the season and the team had set a new standard. Followed shortly after by the team's first double points finish is Monaco of all places!

Watching the team progress and develop has been a treat to us all and to the sport.  As mentioned in a previous blog,  New Found Respect, I think that what we witnessed is just the beginning. The beginning to a whole new ear for Force India.  With so much still to come.