HOW MUCH MARGIN FOR DEVELOPMENT?
The sidepod inlets are tighter and have a more rectangular shape, which would indicate that the Mercedes power unit has become even less demanding in terms of cooling requirements. One shall also notice the rollhoop inlet and its slightly elongated triangular design. The inlet extends into a ‘shark fin’ edge, a concept also visible on the Toro Rosso STR11 and Williams FW38. The engine cover somewhat seems more enveloping. The new rear wing’s endplates have revised dents (see yellow arrows), while their edges have a straighter outline.
Force India will bring regular updates throughout the year but the team will decide on a clearer development plan by the Spanish Grand Prix, and see how it can allocate its resources efficiently to keep finding more performance in 2016 while also preparing for the following season.
“When we get to the Barcelona race, we will be appraising our position and our relative performance,” Green further explained. “We will ask ourselves if we’ve already got the ammunition to be able to fight for fifth towards the end of the season. Are we looking stronger than that or are we looking weaker than that? And that discussion and that analysis will then feed into how much resource we then allocate to 2017.
“It’s not as simple as ‘we’re looking quite strong in Barcelona, therefore we’ll back off.’ It could be that we’re looking strong in Barcelona, there’s a chance to get fourth and we might think, ‘Actually, we’ll go for that instead and we’ll compromise a bit of the beginning of 2017'."
