Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsForce India

New Force India set to miss second test

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Force India confirms it is unlikely its 2015 car - the VJM08 - will be ready for the second test at Barcelona.

The team launched a new livery for this year during an event in Mexico City in January, but the new car was not planned to be ready until the second pre-season test. As a result, Force India was aiming to run last year’s VJM07 at Jerez before a late decision not to attend, saying it would focus on being ready for the final two test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

However, it now looks like the 2015 car will not be ready until the final pre-season test at the end of February, with Force India admitting it is likely to have to run its old car a week earlier.

“Although everybody is working towards getting the VJM08 to the next test session in Barcelona, it's more likely the new car will appear at the final Barcelona test,” a Force India spokesman said. “So, that would mean running the 2014 car at the first Barcelona test.”

Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer last week denied that the car’s late completion is down to financial difficulties.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.