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Force India needs 'another £200m' to challenge at the top

Force India needs "another £200million" to be able to make the step towards the front-running teams in F1, according to deputy team principal Bob Fernley.

Since the 2014 season, Force India has made steady progress as it finished sixth in the constructors' championship two years ago and fifth last season. Now challenging Williams for fourth place, Fernley says being the best team behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull is currently the highest Force India can realistically aim without major investment.

“I think that the goal is probably best of the rest if the truth be known," Fernley told F1i. "In reality, another £200million to get the next step.

"But saying that, next year is going to be an exciting year because for the first time we’re all designing cars … I wouldn’t say we’re on a level playing field but certainly more level than it has ever been in terms of the aero availability you have.

"So we're all limited. Obviously the bigger teams have much more efficient processes so they have an advantage but the advantage is much less than it has ever been. So it is going to be interesting and I think it is going to produce some interesting opportunities next year.”

And Fernley says Force India takes confidence from its recent successful development program when it comes to the new aerodynamic regulations for next season.

“Yeah and also the 2017 car will be the first car where we are actually using a 60% model. In the past we’ve had the 50% when we’ve had Brackley. Even when we made the big switch to Toyota which obviously cost us dearly in the first part of 2015, once we got that on track we rebounded and continued to progress on from there. So the 60% model with the fidelity that gives is also exciting for us.”

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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.