Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsForce India

Force India hopes to capitalise on B-spec improvement

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Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer says the team has the potential to capitalise on its 2015 gains with next year’s car.

Having introduced a B-spec car at the British Grand Prix in 2015, Force India made a clear step forward in terms of performance and scored the majority of its points with the upgraded VJM08. With the technical regulations remaining largely stable, Szafnauer told F1i the car has more potential which the team will aim to exploit in order to start next season in an even stronger position.

“Well the regulations don't change very much over the winter so hopefully the type of performance we showed at the end of the season can continue in to next year,” Szafnauer said. “I’m sure our competitors will be fiercely developing over the winter so we’ve got to do the same and just continue on the same development path that we’ve been on. This car’s philosophy will be employed next year.”

While encouraged by the positive results from the new aerodynamic set-up at Force India, Szanfauer is aware the team does not have the budget to develop its 2016 car throughout the year when new regulations are set to be introduced in 2017.

“[It gives us confidence] because the more knowledge and expertise and capability that you gain, even if the rules change, you’re better off. But when there’s a big upheaval some of the teams that have more resources are able to continue developing one at the same time as doing work on the other. We’re going to have to strategically choose when we switch from one to the other.”

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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.