Formula 1 2017 team preview: Force India - MotorSportsTalk

Force India’s rise continued in 2016 as it became the mightiest of Formula 1’s mighty midfielders, scoring its best-ever finish in the constructors’ championship by ending the year in an impressive fourth place.

Widely regarded as being one of F1’s best pound-for-pound teams, there is still plenty of scope for Force India to continue its growth as it looks to establish itself towards the front of the grid.

DRIVERS

11. Sergio Perez (Mexico)
31. Esteban Ocon (France)

CAR

Force India VJM10

ENGINE

Mercedes M08 EQ Power+

TEAM CHIEFS

Vijay Mallya (team principal/owner)
Bob Fernley (deputy team principal)
Otmar Szafnauer (chief operating officer)
Andrew Green (technical director)

MONTMELO, SPAIN – MARCH 10: Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Sahara Force India F1 Team VJM10 on track during the final day of Formula One winter testing at Circuit de Catalunya on March 10, 2017 in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

What went right in 2016: Quite a bit. Force India started the year trailing Williams in the pecking order but was able to pull ahead despite putting its 2016 car updates on hold rather early in the year. Sergio Perez was excellent throughout the year, taking two well-deserved podiums in Monaco and Baku. He was the stand-out star of the weekend in Azerbaijan. Nico Hulkenberg was consistent, and the team looked pretty comfortable in the race for fourth come the end of the year.

What went wrong in 2016: It’s hard to see where Force India could have done better last year. Its budget is one of the smallest on the grid, so to have beaten the likes of Williams and McLaren is a massive result. Hulkenberg was perhaps a little underwhelming at times, but otherwise, coming up squat here!

What’s changed for 2017: The charge to fourth in the constructors’ championship offered Force India a welcome boost in prize money, so things will be a bit easier on the financial front in 2017. Esteban Ocon has arrived from Manor following Hulkenberg’s switch to Renault. Ocon won the GP3 title in 2015 and is a Mercedes junior, so to see him racing in an upper-midfield car will be of interest. Oh, and the car is pink. Very pink.

What they’ll be looking to accomplish in 2017: More of the same. A breakthrough victory is really the next step Force India can take, and with the new technical regulations fresh for everyone, this is perhaps the team’s best chance of doing so. Tire management will become key once again, playing to the strengths of Perez, while Ocon has plenty of credentials from his junior career. Realistically, P4 in the constructors’ should be the aim once again with at least three podiums.

MONTMELO, SPAIN – MARCH 09: Esteban Ocon of France driving the (31) Sahara Force India F1 Team VJM10 on track during day three of Formula One winter testing at Circuit de Catalunya on March 9, 2017 in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

MST PREDICTIONS

Luke Smith: F1’s favorite midfield team really needs to be pushing for more of the same this year. The pace difference between the Mercedes/Red Bull/Ferrari triumvirate at the front of the field and the rest of the pack is great, so really, any race where Force India can finish better than P7 and P8 is a result. Fourth in the constructors’ should be the aim ahead of Williams, and I think it’s very achievable. Force India was consistent through testing and has pace in its pocket, so I’ll back Perez and Ocon to take a podium apiece this year en route to P4 in the constructors’ championship.

Tony DiZinno: The car’s design and livery – first in its launch livery and now later in its new pink, magenta and silver hue – have been more of the talking points this offseason than its on-track testing performance. Force India has arrived in the top four in the constructor’s championship, and the occasional surprise and overachieving isn’t going to be enough to keep it there. Sergio Perez is clear team leader and the pressure will be on Esteban Ocon to score enough points in his arrival here to keep them there. His mentality seems right for it though. A few more podiums and consistent top-six placings should be the goal.

Kyle Lavigne: Sahara Force India are possibly the most intriguing of the midfield teams. They enjoyed a solid 2016 season as the “best of the rest” behind Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari. Their fourth place in the constructor’s championship was buoyed by a pair of podiums from Sergio Perez, who returns to the team alongside newcomer Esteban Ocon, who impressed in his testing outings. Force India did not show quite the same pace as the teams at the sharp end of the field, but they showed more than enough to be a genuine darkhorse for podium finishes, particularly if drivers from the “Big 3” stumble.

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”