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132-752: Force India Formula One Team Limited , commonly known as Force India and later Sahara Force India , was a Formula One racing team and constructor based in Silverstone , United Kingdom, with an Indian licence . The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Dutch businessman Michiel Mol bought the Spyker F1 team for €88 million. After going through 29 races without scoring points, Force India won their first Formula One world championship points and podium place when Giancarlo Fisichella finished second in

264-486: A rev limiter . The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) believed that allowing some teams to have such technical freedom would have created a 'two-tier' championship, and thus requested urgent talks with the FIA. But talks broke down and FOTA teams announced, with the exception of Williams and Force India , that 'they had no choice' but to form a breakaway championship series . On 24 June, Formula One's governing body and

396-627: A ban on ground-effect aerodynamics during 1983 . But by then, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977 , were producing over 520 kW (700 bhp) and were essential to be competitive. By 1986 , a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar (80 psi) pressure, estimated to be over 970 kW (1,300 bhp) in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix . The next year, power in race trim reached around 820 kW (1,100 bhp), with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar. These cars were

528-923: A collision with Buemi, while Sutil finished sixth in Germany ahead of the Mercedes cars. Di Resta finished seventh in Hungary , eighth in Italy and took his best race result of sixth in Singapore , while Sutil added a seventh-place finish in Belgium and an eighth in Singapore. Di Resta scored another point in Korea , while at the Airtel Indian Grand Prix , Sutil scored two points with ninth place. At

660-469: A driver's fastest lap in that period (barring infractions) counts. Any timed lap started before the end of that period may be completed and will count toward that driver's placement. The number of cars eliminated in each period is dependent on the total number of cars entered into the championship. Currently, with 20 cars, Q1 runs for 18 minutes, and eliminates the slowest five drivers. During this period, any driver whose best lap takes longer than 107% of

792-482: A guerrilla war with a very long-term aim in view". FOCA threatened to establish a rival series and boycotted a Grand Prix, and FISA withdrew its sanction from races. The result was the 1981 Concorde Agreement , which guaranteed technical stability, as teams were to be given reasonable notice of new regulations. Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it gave FOCA the administration of those rights. FISA imposed

924-669: A lap at the Albert Park circuit. At the Bahrain Grand Prix , Pérez put Force India on the podium with a third-place finish, its first time on the podium since Belgium in 2009 . In Austria , Pérez achieved the third fastest lap in Force India's history. Force India were good after the major regulation change of hybrid engines and turbocharged powertrains, as they finished in sixth place with 155 points; 125 points ahead of seventh-placed Toro Rosso . On 19 October 2014,

1056-404: A management buyout to become Brawn GP , with Ross Brawn and Nick Fry running and owning the majority of the organisation. Brawn GP laid off hundreds of employees, but won the year's world championships. BMW F1 was bought out by the original founder of the team, Peter Sauber . The Lotus F1 Team was another, formerly manufacturer-owned team that reverted to "privateer" ownership, together with

1188-654: A much faster time. Di Resta was confirmed as the team's test driver on 2 February 2010. On 9 February 2010, Force India unveiled their new car, the VJM03 , which was to be used in the 2010 season. The 2010 season began with points in Bahrain , with Liuzzi finishing in ninth position. Sutil had qualified in tenth, but was involved in a first-lap incident with the Renault of Robert Kubica . He ultimately recovered to finish in twelfth position. In Australia , Sutil again qualified in

1320-468: A new Concorde Agreement committing them to the sport until 2025, including a $ 145 million budget cap for car development to support equal competition and sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the sport to adapt to budgetary and logistical limitations. A significant overhaul of the technical regulations intended to be introduced in the 2021 season was pushed back to 2022, with constructors instead using their 2020 chassis for two seasons and

1452-596: A new sponsorship with BWT AG , which saw the VJM10 gain a striking pink livery, leading to the 'Pink Panther' nickname used for the cars by fans, commentators and the team themselves on social media . Another new sponsor for 2017 was whisky brand Johnnie Walker , with whom Force India struck a multi-year deal. During Force India's time in F1, the team supported multiple drivers on the FIA Global Pathway and gave them

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1584-404: A partnership with Lego , with the first new sets releasing in 2025. The regulations governing Formula One are set to be revised for the 2026 season, with big changes planned to help encourage closer and more competitive racing. Changes include: In November 2024, General Motors reached an agreement to enter Formula 1 in 2026 with its Cadillac brand. A Formula One Grand Prix event spans

1716-529: A partnership with the Japanese company NEC Corporation (Mexican Division) for the 2015 season. Force India supported Hilmer Motorsport in GP2 and GP3 in 2014. In 2015 Force India announced a partnership with Adaptavist. Since 2011, Force India have also provided backing to teenager Jehan Daruvala following his win of the team's 'One in a Billion' competition. Hype Energy Drinks has been a Force India sponsor since

1848-470: A press release stating it had been informed it was not entered for the 2010 season, and an FIA press release said the FOTA representatives had walked out of the meeting. On 1 August, it was announced FIA and FOTA had signed a new Concorde Agreement, bringing an end to the crisis and securing the sport's future until 2012. To compensate for the loss of manufacturer teams, four new teams were accepted entry into

1980-550: A puncture. Ocon finished ninth but Pérez retired from the damage caused by the puncture late in the race. The team secured fourth place in the Constructors' Championship for a second successive season at the Mexican Grand Prix . The points total at the end of this season was 187, the team's best points tally ever. For the 2018 season the team retained the 2017 line up of Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon . At

2112-525: A race seat for the 2011 season, to partner Adrian Sutil . The team launched their new car, the VJM04 on 8 February 2011 via an online launch. The VJM04 is the first car created under new technical director Andrew Green and developed using the resources from partners McLaren Applied Technologies and Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines . In the first race of the year in Australia, Sutil and di Resta finished

2244-516: A reason to impose rule changes that otherwise, under the Concorde Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon by all the teams—most notably the changes introduced for 1998 . This so-called 'narrow track' era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a narrower track overall, and the introduction of grooved tyres to reduce mechanical grip. The objective was to reduce cornering speeds and produce racing similar to rainy conditions by enforcing

2376-453: A result of the incident, Hülkenberg finished fifth. Force India finished their 2012 campaign in seventh place with 109 points. The 2013 line-up featured Paul di Resta for the third successive year. The season also witnessed Adrian Sutil returning to the team line-up, replacing Nico Hülkenberg as the team's Second Driver. The team's new car, the VJM06 was launched on 1 February 2013 at

2508-434: A season (13, since beaten by Max Verstappen ), and most Drivers' Championships (seven, tied with Lewis Hamilton as of 2021). Schumacher's championship streak ended on 25 September 2005, when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion at that time (until Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and followed by Sebastian Vettel in 2010 ). During 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at

2640-538: A significant step forward from its predecessor, particularly in high-speed corners. In Belgium , Pérez almost took the lead of the race on lap one and ultimately finished in a strong fifth place. He followed up this drive with a sixth-place finish in Monza and seventh in Singapore . In September Sahara Force India lodged a formal complaint to the European Union against Formula One for breaching competition laws. At

2772-442: A smaller contact patch between tyre and track. According to the FIA, this was to reduce cornering speeds in the interest of safety. Results were mixed, as the lack of mechanical grip resulted in the more ingenious designers clawing back the deficit with aerodynamic grip. This resulted in pushing more force onto the tyres through wings and aerodynamic devices, which in turn resulted in less overtaking, as these devices tended to make

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2904-524: A strong seventh place in the Australian Grand Prix . However they struggled thereafter and did not score points until the Bahrain Grand Prix courtesy of an eighth-place finish by Pérez. Both drivers delivered strong results in Monaco and Austria . The team later introduced a highly modified B-spec car at the 2015 British Grand Prix , featuring two distinctive vents in the nose. The car was

3036-409: A supplier, which would have resulted in an unmanaged insolvency of the company and almost certain collapse of the team. A consortium led by Lawrence Stroll ended up acquiring the team's assets. Approaching the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix , the situation regarding the team's ability to compete remained unsure, as in order to buy the shares in the team, the consortium needed agreement with the creditors of

3168-565: A team—designing, building, and maintaining cars, pay, transport—at approximately £220,000,000 (or $ 265,000,000), Formula One's financial and political battles are widely reported. The Formula One Group is owned by Liberty Media , which acquired it in 2017 from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for £6.4 billion ($ 8 billion). Formula One originated from the World Manufacturers' Championship ( 1925 – 1930 ) and European Drivers' Championship ( 1931 – 1939 ). The formula

3300-492: A time penalty post-race, dropping him out of points. Continuous updates to improve reliability and performance allowed the team to close the gap to the fastest teams during the mid-season, despite Super Aguri's withdrawal meaning the two cars started from the rear of the grid for the majority of races. A seamless-shift transmission introduced at Valencia marked the end of development for the car; team owner Mallya had realised underinvestment and continued changes of ownership had led

3432-427: A token system limiting which parts could be modified introduced. The start of the 2020 season was delayed by several months, and both it and 2021 seasons were subject to several postponements, cancellations, and rescheduling of races due to shifting restrictions on international travel. Many races took place behind closed doors and with only essential personnel present to maintain social distancing . In 2022,

3564-420: A transmission failure. Force India finished the season ninth in front of Scuderia Toro Rosso with 13 points, however, this did not reflect the vast improvement Force India had made from the start of the season. The team announced on 27 November 2009, that it was to keep Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi for the 2010 season . The team tested Paul di Resta and J. R. Hildebrand at Jerez, with di Resta setting

3696-403: A weekend. It typically begins with two free practice sessions on Friday, and one free practice session on Saturday. Additional drivers (commonly known as third drivers ) are allowed to run on Fridays, but only two cars may be used per team, requiring a race driver to give up their seat. A qualifying session is held after the last free practice session. This session determines the starting order for

3828-399: A world championship race. It entered the 1961 British Grand Prix , the only front-engined car to compete that year. During 1962 , Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium-sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional space-frame design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars. In 1968 , sponsorship was introduced to

3960-439: Is a remarkable achievement considering the team's financial plight and their late preparations of the season by delaying the B spec version of their car. The Force India VJM08 for 2015 was suitable for the aerodynamic changes from the 2014 season. Force India retained Hülkenberg and Pérez for a third successive season in 2016 . It proved to be the most successful season in the team's history to that point, after finishing fourth in

4092-463: Is a set of rules that all participants' cars must follow. Formula One was a formula agreed upon in 1946 to officially become effective in 1947 . The first Grand Prix in accordance with the new regulations was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix , anticipating the formula's official start. Before World War II , a number of Grand Prix racing organisations made suggestions for a new championship to replace

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4224-500: Is allocated one set of the softest tyres for use in Q3. The cars that qualify for Q3 must return them after Q3; the cars that do not qualify for Q3 can use them during the race. As of 2022, all drivers are given a free choice of tyre to use at the start of the Grand Prix, whereas in previous years only the drivers that did not participate in Q3 had free tyre choice for the start of the race. Any penalties that affect grid position are applied at

4356-400: Is generated by front and rear wings. The cars depend on electronics, aerodynamics , suspension , and tyres . Traction control , launch control , and automatic shifting , and other electronic driving aids were first banned in 1994 . They were briefly reintroduced in 2001 , and have more recently been banned since 2004 and 2008 , respectively. With the average annual cost of running

4488-434: The 1955 Le Mans disaster . The first major technological development in the sport was Bugatti 's introduction of mid-engined cars. Jack Brabham , the world champion in 1959 , 1960 , and 1966 , soon proved the mid-engine's superiority over all other engine positions. By 1961 all teams had switched to mid-engined cars. The Ferguson P99 , a four-wheel drive design, was the last front-engined Formula One car to enter

4620-457: The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix . Other changes included the qualifying format, the point-scoring system, the technical regulations, and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although, at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use, leading to Bridgestone becoming

4752-692: The 2009 Belgian Grand Prix . Force India scored points again in the following race when Adrian Sutil finished fourth, and set the team's first fastest lap, at the Italian Grand Prix . The team's other podium finishes are five third-places, in the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix , 2015 Russian Grand Prix , 2016 Monaco Grand Prix , 2016 European Grand Prix and the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix , all achieved by Sergio Pérez . In October 2011, Indian company Sahara India Pariwar , purchased 42.5% of Force India F1's shares at US$ 100 million. In 2018, Vijay Mallya, accused of fraud and defaulting on loans, could not afford to continue to run Force India. By July 2018, ahead of

4884-403: The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix , where Jules Bianchi collided with a recovery vehicle after aquaplaning off the circuit, dying nine months later from his injuries. Since 1994, three track marshals have died, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix , one at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and one at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix . Since Senna's and Ratzenberger's deaths, the FIA has used safety as

5016-425: The 2017 and 2018 seasons featured a title battle between Mercedes and Ferrari. Mercedes ultimately won the titles with multiple races to spare and continued to dominate in the next two years, eventually winning seven consecutive Drivers' Championships from 2014 to 2020 and eight consecutive Constructors' titles from 2014 to 2021. During this eight-year period between 2014 and 2021, a Mercedes driver won 111 of

5148-603: The Alfa Romeo name, Sauber introduced a title partnership with the online casino Stake.com , resulting in the team's new identity as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber . Sauber will hold Stake's sponsorship name until the end of 2025, after which it will become the Audi works team for the 2026 season onwards. Scuderia AlphaTauri , Red Bull's junior team, dropped its name and took on sponsors from Hugo Boss and Cash App, becoming Visa Cash App RB, or VCARB for 2024. Formula One announced

5280-654: The Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps , when Fisichella qualified fastest. He finished the race in second position, less than a second behind Kimi Räikkönen earning Force India's first ever points and podium position. Missing the win was partially blamed on the car's lack of KERS , a system present on the Ferrari . On 3 September 2009, Force India announced that they were releasing Fisichella from his contract to allow him to race for Ferrari for

5412-500: The Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the manufacturers negotiated a larger share of Formula One's commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport. In 2008 and 2009, Honda , BMW , and Toyota all withdrew from Formula One racing within a year, blaming the economic recession . This resulted in the end of manufacturer dominance of the sport. The Honda F1 team went through

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5544-640: The Hungarian Grand Prix , the team announced that they had been put into administration by the High Court in London . The team's assets were bought by a consortium of investors, named Racing Point UK , led by Lawrence Stroll , the father of then Williams driver Lance Stroll . The consortium used the assets to create a new entry into the sport named Racing Point Force India . The constructor that had been founded in 2008 ceased to exist prior to

5676-710: The Imperial Tobacco 's Gold Leaf livery at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix . Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance in car design with the appearance of aerofoils during the 1968 season. The wings were introduced by Lotus's owner Colin Chapman who installed modest front wings and a rear spoiler on his Lotus 49 B at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix . In the late 1970s, Lotus introduced ground-effect aerodynamics, previously used on Jim Hall 's Chaparral 2J in 1970, that provided enormous downforce and greatly increased cornering speeds. The aerodynamic forces pressing

5808-470: The Jaguar Racing team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since Alfa Romeo's and Renault's departures in 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams—Renault, BMW , Toyota , Honda, and Ferrari—dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the Constructors' Championship. The exception was McLaren, which at the time was part-owned by Mercedes-Benz. Through

5940-627: The Japanese Grand Prix at the wheel of the F8-VIIB. Spyker was bought by Vijay Mallya during 2007 and became Force India for 2008 . With initial 2008 testing being carried out in reliveried F8-VIIBs, the definitive version of the Force India VJM01 – still largely based on the F8-VIIB – made its testing debut on February 25, 2008. The team continued to use 2007-specification Ferrari engines due to cost reasons. Although

6072-598: The Russian Grand Prix , Pérez put Force India on the podium with a third-place finish, its first podium since the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix . Hülkenberg and Pérez finished seventh and eighth in Pérez' home race in Mexico City . This upturn in form helped Force India achieve their best placing of 5th place with 136 points in the Constructors' Championship, although scoring 19 fewer points than its predecessor. This

6204-533: The Singapore round and fifth at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix ; a safety car before his pit stop prevented points in Singapore, while transmission issues in Brazil left him 18th and two laps down. Force India finished the season tenth place in the Constructors' Championship, and Fisichella achieved the best finish of tenth at the Spanish Grand Prix . Force India retained the same drivers for

6336-409: The 'sprint shootout'; such a system made its debut at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and is set to be used throughout all sprint sessions in place of the traditional second free practice session. Sprint qualifying sessions are run much shorter than traditional qualifying, and each session required teams to fit new tyres - mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, and softs for SQ3 - otherwise they cannot participate in

6468-585: The 160 races, with Hamilton winning 81 of these and taking six Drivers' Championships during this period to equal Schumacher's record of seven titles. In 2021 , the Honda-powered Red Bull team began to seriously challenge Mercedes, with Verstappen beating Hamilton to the Drivers' Championship after a season-long battle that saw the pair exchange the championship lead multiple times. This era has seen an increase in car manufacturer presence in

6600-592: The 1960s and 1970s. Promoters held non-championship Formula One events for many years. Due to the increasing cost of competition, the last of these was held in 1983. This era featured teams managed by road-car manufacturers, such as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati . The first seasons featured prewar cars like Alfa Romeo's 158 , which were front-engined , with narrow tyres and 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre naturally aspirated engines. The 1952 and 1953 seasons were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over

6732-570: The 2000s, financial problems meant the team's performance dried up, and team owner Eddie Jordan sold the team to the Midland Group in early 2005. The Midland owned team renamed Midland F1 Racing in 2006 spent two seasons at the back of grid, before owner Alex Shnaider sold the team to Spyker Cars midway through the 2006 season. Spyker F1 scored a point in 2007 and briefly led the European Grand Prix ; despite this,

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6864-483: The 2007 tyres were going to do, and we worked hard on aero, which is of course always the fundamental thing. That way we could concentrate all our efforts on performance related areas." The car was not competitive and scored only one point. Remarkably for an unsuccessful car, in his only ever race, Marcus Winkelhock started last at the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring but after getting his tactics right at

6996-521: The 2009 season. The VJM02 was powered by Mercedes-Benz engines, after the team signed a five-year deal on 10 November 2008. The deal also included a supply of McLaren-Mercedes gearboxes, hydraulic systems and the KERS feature. The car was revealed on 1 March 2009. At the wet Chinese Grand Prix , Sutil almost secured Force India's first points, holding sixth place in front of Lewis Hamilton and Timo Glock with six laps remaining when aquaplaning led to

7128-538: The 2010 season ahead of a much anticipated 'cost-cap'. Entrants included a reborn Team Lotus —led by a Malaysian consortium including Tony Fernandes , the boss of Air Asia ; Hispania Racing —the first Spanish Formula One team; and Virgin Racing — Richard Branson 's entry into the series following a successful partnership with Brawn the year before. They were also joined by the US F1 Team , which planned to run out of

7260-561: The 2010 season, Mercedes-Benz reentered the sport as a manufacturer after it purchased Brawn GP and split with McLaren after 15 seasons with the team. During the 2009 season, Formula One was gripped by the FIA–FOTA dispute . FIA President Max Mosley proposed numerous cost-cutting measures for the next season, including an optional budget cap for the teams; teams electing to take the budget cap would be granted greater technical freedom, adjustable front and rear wings, and an engine not subject to

7392-403: The 2015 season, with their CEO, former Formula 1 driver Bertrand Gachot , having driven for predecessor team Jordan during the 1991 season. Force India have featured Hype Energy branding on the rear wing and side pods of the car for races where alcohol advertising is prohibited. Hype Energy also supply the drivers with personal drinks bottles for races. On 14 March 2017, Force India announced

7524-543: The 2019 Australian Grand Prix when the new team changed their constructor entry to " Racing Point ". The team's origins stemmed from the Jordan Grand Prix team, which entered Formula One racing in 1991 based at the Silverstone circuit. Jordan enjoyed many years in Formula One, winning four races and achieving third place in the 1999 Constructors' Championship. However, like many of the smaller teams in

7656-568: The Constructors' Championship with 173 points. Pérez scored his first of two podium finishes at the Monaco Grand Prix , finishing third, which was also the first time that the team had scored a podium at Monaco in any of its guises – Jordan , Midland , Spyker or Force India. Pérez finished third again two races later at the European Grand Prix in Baku . At the Belgian Grand Prix the team managed to get their first double-finish within

7788-586: The European Championship, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the new International Formula for cars did not become formalised until 1946, to become effective in 1947. The new World Championship was instituted to commence in 1950 . The first world championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix , took place at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom on 13 May 1950. Giuseppe Farina , competing for Alfa Romeo , won

7920-446: The F1 governing body announced a major rule and car design change intended to promote closer racing through the use of ground effects , new aerodynamics, larger wheels with low-profile tyres, and redesigned nose and wing regulations. Red Bull emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup. The 2022 and 2023 Constructors' and Drivers' Championships were won by Red Bull and Verstappen, with multiple races to spare. In 2023

8052-421: The FIA opened applications for new teams to enter Formula 1 in the then near future. Of the teams that applied, only Andretti were approved by the FIA, with them then being rejected by Formula One Management , though they have launched an appeal. In early 2024, the Formula One landscape underwent a significant change in the sphere of team sponsorships and collaborations. Having competed for five seasons under

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8184-467: The Force India car skidding off the road and crashing out of the race. At the German Grand Prix , Sutil qualified in seventh place and battled for the points, reaching second at one point, before colliding with Kimi Räikkönen after exiting the pit lane and being forced to pit again to change a broken front wing. He finished 15th. Force India gained their first pole position in Formula One at

8316-422: The Force India team. In the last race of the season, the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix , Hülkenberg qualified 7th but was promoted to 6th after Pastor Maldonado received a 10 place grid penalty. By lap three he had moved forward two places and on lap five he passed Fernando Alonso for third place. He moved into second position when McLaren's Lewis Hamilton pitted on lap 11. Hülkenberg then passed Jenson Button at

8448-557: The United States as the only non-European-based team in the sport. Financial issues befell the squad before they even made the grid. Despite the entry of these new teams, the proposed cost-cap was repealed and these teams—which did not have the budgets of the midfield and top-order teams—ran around at the back of the field until they collapsed; HRT in 2012, Caterham (formerly Lotus) in 2014 and Manor (formerly Virgin, then Marussia), having survived falling into administration in 2014, at

8580-867: The ban on driver aids was in name only, as they "proved difficult to police effectively". The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement in 1992 and a third in 1997. On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s. Brabham was also competitive during the early 1980s, winning two Drivers' Championships with Nelson Piquet . Powered by Porsche , Honda , and Mercedes-Benz , McLaren won 16 championships (seven constructors' and nine drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford , Honda, and Renault to also win 16 titles (nine constructors' and seven drivers'). The rivalry between racers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus during 1988 and continued until Prost retired at

8712-582: The buy-out of the Renault team by Genii Capital investors. But a link with its previous owners still survived, with its car continuing to be powered by a Renault engine until 2014. McLaren also announced that it was to reacquire the shares in its team from Mercedes-Benz (McLaren's partnership with Mercedes was reported to have started to sour with the McLaren Mercedes SLR road car project and tough F1 championships, which included McLaren being found guilty of spying on Ferrari ). Hence, during

8844-403: The cars to the track were up to five times the car's weight. As a result, extremely stiff springs were needed to maintain a constant ride height , leaving the suspension virtually solid. This meant that the drivers depended entirely on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning of the car and driver from irregularities of the road surface. Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged

8976-556: The championship "due to its inability to complete the season", and welcomed the new legal entity, Racing Point Force India F1 Team , that was allowed to race, but not to keep any points of the old team. This signaled the end of the constructor that had been founded for the 2008 season. Kingfisher , a brand owned by Vijay Mallya, was the primary sponsor. Other sponsors for 2008 included ICICI Bank , Medion , Kanyan Capital, Reebok and Reliance Industries Limited . The above sponsors, except ICICI Bank and Kanyan Capital, continued to sponsor

9108-590: The current racing models. Force India F1 has tied up with Airbus and EADS for technological support, and has a technical partnership with McLaren . In October 2011, Indian company Sahara India Pariwar purchased 42.5% of the team's shares for $ 100 million. Mallya retained 42.5%, and the remaining 15% belonged to the Mol family. The team was renamed Sahara Force India as a result. The shares sold were newly issued; Mallya and Mol did not sell any of their existing shares. Brazilian auto parts manufacturer Aethra joined

9240-456: The dearth of Formula One cars. When a new Formula One formula for engines limited to 2.5 litres was reinstated for the 1954 world championship, Mercedes-Benz introduced its W196 , which featured things never seen on Formula One cars before, such as desmodromic valves , fuel injection , and enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes drivers won the championship for the next two years, before the team withdrew from all motorsport competitions due to

9372-457: The drivers , and one for the constructors (the teams). Each driver must hold a valid Super Licence , the highest class of racing licence the FIA issues, and the races must be held on grade one tracks , the highest grade rating the FIA issues for tracks. Formula One cars are the world's fastest regulated road-course racing cars , owing to very high cornering speeds achieved by generating large amounts of aerodynamic downforce , much of which

9504-409: The end of 1993 . Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello . The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also died in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver died of injuries sustained on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car for 20 years until

9636-541: The end of 2006 after 16 years in Formula One, but came out of retirement for the 2010 season, racing for the newly formed Mercedes works team, following the rebrand of Brawn GP . During this period, FIA frequently changed the championship rules with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs. Team orders , legal since the championship started during 1950, were banned during 2002, after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at

9768-439: The end of 2016. A major rule shakeup in 2014 saw the 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 engines replaced by 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid power units. This prompted Honda to return to the sport in 2015 as the championship's fourth power unit manufacturer. Mercedes emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup, with Lewis Hamilton winning the championship closely followed by his main rival and teammate, Nico Rosberg , with

9900-490: The end of qualifying. Grid penalties can be applied for driving infractions in the previous or current Grand Prix, or for changing a gearbox or engine component. If a car fails scrutineering, the driver will be excluded from qualifying but will be allowed to start the race from the back of the grid at the race stewards' discretion. 2021 saw the trialling of a 'sprint qualifying' race on the Saturday of three race weekends, with

10032-655: The end of the 2016 season. Force India missed the first pre-season test in Jerez , due to an unexplained setback in the development of the Force India VJM08 . It was later revealed that Force India was, according to insider Ralf Bach, "facing financial collapse," and was "currently insolvent ." He also suggested that the delays in the VJM08 were due to the fact that "important parts suppliers have not been paid". Robert Fernley , deputy Team Principal, later admitted that

10164-466: The fastest getting first place on the grid, referred to as pole position . From 1996 to 2002, the format was a one-hour shootout. This approach lasted until the end of 2002 before the rules were changed again because the teams were not running in the early part of the session to take advantage of better track conditions later on. Grids were generally limited to 26 cars – if the race had more entries, qualification would also decide which drivers would start

10296-511: The fastest time in Q1 will not be allowed to start the race without permission from the stewards. Otherwise, all drivers proceed to the race albeit in the worst starting positions. This rule does not affect drivers in Q2 or Q3. In Q2, the 15 remaining drivers have 15 minutes to set one of the ten fastest times and proceed to the next period. Finally, Q3 lasts 12 minutes and sees the remaining ten drivers decide

10428-462: The final race in Brazil , Sutil matched his best finish of the season with sixth place, while di Resta finished eighth, to help the team finish sixth in the Constructors' Championship, four points in arrears of fifth-placed Renault . For their 2012 line-up, the team retained Paul di Resta and replaced Adrian Sutil with their 2011 reserve driver, Nico Hülkenberg . Jules Bianchi was later named as

10560-455: The first Drivers' World Championship, narrowly defeating his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio . Fangio won the championship in 1951 , 1954 , 1955 , 1956 , and 1957 . This set the record for the most World Championships won by a single driver, a record that stood for 46 years until Michael Schumacher won his sixth championship in 2003. A Constructors' Championship was added in the 1958 season . Stirling Moss , despite being regarded as one of

10692-569: The first few laps, the following race in Malaysia saw Fisichella's twelfth place earn the team's first finish. After disappointing results in the opening races, Sutil gave the team the chance to score its first points in the wet Monaco Grand Prix , but towards the end of the race Kimi Räikkönen 's Ferrari lost control and hit Sutil's car causing immediate retirement. Although a furious Gascoyne called for Räikkönen to be penalised, overtakes under yellow flag conditions would have meant Sutil receiving

10824-600: The first modern line of Spykers, the C8 Spyder, we called it the C line to follow on from the original model rationale," he explained. "The E line will be launched in the near future, so it makes sense for our Formula One car, our latest model, to be the F line." The number eight refers to the number of cylinders of Spyker's Ferrari engine – the same rationale as used with road-going Spykers. The VII (7) sub-designation refers to Spyker's days as an aircraft manufacturer where all models were denoted by Roman numerals and stood for

10956-489: The first ten grid positions. At the beginning of the 2016 Formula 1 season, the FIA introduced a new qualifying format, whereby drivers were knocked out every 90 seconds after a certain amount of time had passed in each session. The aim was to mix up grid positions for the race, but due to unpopularity, the FIA reverted to the above qualifying format for the Chinese GP, after running the format for only two races. Each car

11088-508: The greatest Formula One drivers in the 1950s and 1960s, never won the Formula One championship. Between 1955 and 1961, Moss finished second in the championship four times and third the other three times. Fangio won 24 of the 52 races he entered—still the record for the highest Formula One winning percentage by an individual driver. National championships existed in South Africa and the UK in

11220-465: The highest-profile member, leaving to join Sauber in a similar role. Chief designer Lewis Butler, senior aerodynamicist Marianne Hinson, and commercial director Ian Phillips also left the outfit. Force India finished the season in seventh place with 68 points, ahead of Sauber , but a point behind Williams . On 26 January 2011, the team announced that reserve driver Paul di Resta would be promoted to

11352-475: The intention of testing the new approach to qualifying. The traditional qualifying would determine the starting order for the sprint, and the result of the sprint would then determine the start order for the Grand Prix. The system returned for the 2022 season, now titled the 'sprint'. From 2023, sprint races no longer impacted the start order for the main race, which would be determined by traditional qualifying. Sprints would have their own qualifying session, titled

11484-565: The management of Formula One's commercial rights; he is widely credited with transforming the sport into the multibillion-dollar business it now is. When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team during 1971, he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association , and in 1978, he became its president. Previously, the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually; Ecclestone persuaded

11616-509: The most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 , and boost pressures in 1988 , before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989 . The development of electronic driver aids began in the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension , which first appeared during 1983 on the Lotus 92 . By 1987, this system had been perfected and

11748-509: The opening race in Australia , Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon finished 11th and 12th respectively. The team was put into administration during the Hungarian Grand Prix . The legal action was instigated by a group of creditors, including Sergio Pérez, as a means of allowing the team to continue to operate while a new owner was sought. Pérez justified the action as a response to a winding-up petition filed by HMRC and supported by Formtech,

11880-508: The opportunity to participate in Formula One test sessions. These drivers include: Formula One This is an accepted version of this page Formula One , commonly known as Formula 1 or F1 , is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of

12012-491: The parent company - including 13 banks which held a freezing order over the assets of the parent. Agreement could not be reached in time, so the consortium was unable to buy the shares, and was limited to purchasing only the assets of the team. The team then had to participate in the F1 Championship under a new name, thus the adding of "Racing Point" to the team's name. The FIA excluded the former Force India entry from

12144-533: The pit crews time to clear themselves and their equipment from the grid for the race start. Spyker F8-VIIB The Spyker F8-VII (subsequently known as the Force India VJM01 ) was a Formula One car , constructed by Spyker F1 that competed in the 2007 Formula One World Championship . A "B Specification" car named the Spyker F8-VIIB was launched at the Italian Grand Prix and used for

12276-523: The points. The two have been involved in a number of collisions in subsequent races. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix , both drivers collided with each other with Pérez damaging his front left suspension and losing his front wing, before eventually retiring from the race. Ocon recovered from a puncture to finish sixth. At the Belgian Grand Prix , the two collided again whilst battling for position with Ocon damaging his front wing and Pérez getting

12408-469: The race in eighth and ninth, avoiding the numerous incidents, giving the team their first double points finish. In Turkey , Sutil finished 9th scoring two points, while Liuzzi finished 13th. At the following race in Montreal , both cars finished in the points, with Liuzzi finishing 9th and Sutil in 10th. A number of senior personnel left the team during the season, with technical director James Key being

12540-562: The race in eleventh and twelfth places respectively but were later promoted to ninth and tenth after both Sauber cars were disqualified for a technical infringement relating to the rear wing of both their cars. Di Resta scored more points in Malaysia but he had to retire in Turkey . Sutil finished seventh in Monaco , and ninth in Valencia . Di Resta was bound for points in Britain before

12672-426: The race on Sunday. Each driver may use no more than thirteen sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of intermediate tyres, and three sets of wet-weather tyres during a race weekend. For much of the sport's history, qualifying sessions differed little from practice sessions; drivers would have one or more sessions in which to set their fastest time, with the grid order determined by each driver's best single lap, with

12804-461: The race. During the early 1990s, the number of entries was so high that the worst-performing teams had to enter a pre-qualifying session, with the fastest cars allowed through to the main qualifying session. The qualifying format began to change in the early 2000s, with the FIA experimenting with limiting the number of laps, determining the aggregate time over two sessions, and allowing each driver only one qualifying lap. The current qualifying system

12936-426: The remainder of the 2007 season. The engine of Spyker F8-VII car was Ferrari 056 despite the team opted for 2006-spec engine due to cost reasons. For the 2008 World Championship , Force India used a slightly modified version of the F8-VIIB, called the Force India VJM01 named after team owners Vijay Mallya , Jan Mol and Michiel Mol . The VJM01 used 2007-spec Ferrari 056 engines instead of 2008-spec. The F8-VII

13068-427: The remainder of the season. It was announced four days later that test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi would replace Fisichella for the remaining races. In qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Sutil qualified second and Liuzzi, on his race debut for the team, qualified seventh. On race day, Sutil finished fourth and clocked the fastest lap of the race. While running fourth in the race, Liuzzi had to retire due to

13200-444: The second half of the 2016 season. Pérez remained at Force India for a fourth season. The VJM10 brought a change to a pink livery, following a new sponsorship deal with BWT . Ocon and Pérez finished the first five races of the season in the points, notably at the Spanish Grand Prix with Pérez finishing fourth and Ocon a career-best fifth. This run of points finished ended at the Monaco Grand Prix with both cars finishing outside

13332-459: The session. The race begins with a warm-up lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. This lap is often referred to as the formation lap, as the cars lap in formation with no overtaking (although a driver who makes a mistake may regain lost ground). The warm-up lap allows drivers to check the condition of the track and their car, gives the tyres a chance to warm up to increase traction and grip, and also gives

13464-406: The sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season by default. On 20 December 2007 Bridgestone signed a contract that officially made it the exclusive tyre supplier for the next three seasons. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a 'green' future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would be an important factor. Starting in 2000, with Ford's purchase of Stewart Grand Prix to form

13596-487: The sport . Team Gunston became the first team to run cigarette sponsorship on its Brabham cars, which privately entered in orange, brown and gold colours of Gunston cigarettes in the 1968 South African Grand Prix on 1 January 1968. Five months later, the first works team , Lotus, initially using the British racing green , followed this example when it entered its cars painted in the red, gold, and white colours of

13728-663: The sport. After Honda's return as an engine manufacturer in 2015, Renault came back as a team in 2016 after buying back the Lotus F1 team. In 2018, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo became Red Bull and Sauber's title sponsors, respectively. Sauber was rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2019 season, while Racing Point part-owner Lawrence Stroll bought a stake in Aston Martin to rebrand the Racing Point team as Aston Martin for 2021. In August 2020, all ten F1 teams signed

13860-399: The start of lap 19 to take the lead. He and Button built up a 45-second lead before the safety car was deployed because of debris on the track. He still led until he was passed by Hamilton, after sliding at the entry of Turn 8 on lap 49. On lap 55 he collided with Hamilton when the rear of Hülkenberg's car slid out while trying to pass him at Turn 1. After being given a drive-through penalty as

13992-479: The start of the wet race (by changing tyres after the warm up lap), Winkelhock found himself leading the race with a 33-second lead after just two laps due to most of the field either pitting for wet tyres or spinning off. The race was stopped due to the dangerous conditions. Winkelhock officially led the race for 7 laps but as the conditions improved following the restart, he slid down the field in his uncompetitive car and eventually retired after 15 laps. Going against

14124-527: The team as an official partner in 2012. Other sponsors include Kingfisher Airlines (former), Whyte and Mackay , United Breweries Group , Vladivar Vodka , AVG Technologies , Alpinestars , Reebok , Schroth Racing, Muc-Off, Hackett, Chatham-Marine, UPS Direct, STILL and STL. Smirnoff announced a partnership with the team in May 2014. Univa announced a partnership with the team in June 2014. Force India announced

14256-410: The team came close to a fourth-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix , points were not forthcoming, and Force India ended the season at the bottom of the Constructors' Championship standings, only ahead of Super Aguri which had withdrawn from the championship after four races. In 2011, Force India teamed up with the artist Dexter Brown to produce an art car. The car was a hand painted VJM01 which

14388-406: The team for 2014, while Paul di Resta was replaced by Sergio Pérez . Adrian Sutil moved to Sauber and was replaced by Nico Hülkenberg from Sauber. Daniel Juncadella was signed by the team as a reserve driver. The season opener in Australia saw Hülkenberg finish sixth while Pérez finished tenth after the disqualification of Daniel Ricciardo . This was also the first time Hülkenberg completed

14520-464: The team in 2009. New sponsors include AVG , Airbus and Whyte & Mackay . In December 2009, Computational Research Laboratories (CRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons , and Force India Formula One Team announced an exclusive three-year multimillion-dollar partnership deal to offer a fully automated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solution to aid the design of the team's next generation race cars as well improve aerodynamic efficiency in

14652-684: The team once again hit financing issues, and was sold on to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, then chairman of the United Breweries Group and Michiel Mol , Spyker's Formula One Director. The team, bought for €88 million, was renamed as the Force India Formula One Team for the 2008 season, and retained team principal Colin Kolles , Chief Technology Officer Mike Gascoyne , and drivers were Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella. After retaining Adrian Sutil for

14784-564: The team stated Hülkenberg had secured his seat for 2015. On 7 November 2014, before the Brazilian Grand Prix , Force India announced that Pérez would remain with the team for the 2015 season. Pérez stated that contract negotiations were "ongoing", in regards to a further contract extension. The deal was officially confirmed two weeks later at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix , with Pérez signing a two-year contract, until

14916-480: The team to fall behind. Force India had been focusing on 2009 since Mallya brought the team, believing that the new regulations would yield better results. Despite halting work on the VJM01, Fisichella put his car to a season-best 12th on the grid at the Italian Grand Prix during an extremely wet qualifying session; he was however to crash out during the race. Fisichella continued his good form by reaching second during

15048-425: The team was likely to miss all three pre-season tests, though he said that they might use the 2014 car to do some "driver and tyre work." However, Force India's 2015 car finally broke cover when Hülkenberg hit the track on day two of the third and final test at Barcelona. The car was an updated version of last year's challenger and was immediately reliable. They had a good start to the season with Hülkenberg finishing in

15180-536: The team winning 16 out of the 19 races that season. The team continued this form in the next two seasons, again winning 16 races in 2015 before taking a record 19 wins in 2016 , with Hamilton claiming the title in the former year and Rosberg winning it in the latter by five points. The 2016 season also saw a new team, Haas , join the grid, while Max Verstappen became the youngest-ever race winner at age 18 in Spain . After revised aerodynamic regulations were introduced,

15312-485: The team's base near the Silverstone Circuit. At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix , Sutil finished seventh, while di Resta finished eighth, giving the team their best ever start to a season. At the fourth round of the season in Bahrain , di Resta finished fourth, while Sutil finished thirteenth. Force India finished their 2013 season in sixth place with 77 points. Nico Hülkenberg returned to

15444-491: The team's first season, Force India conducted winter tests for the second driver and testing roles. Ex-Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella was chosen for the race seat, and Vitantonio Liuzzi secured the reserve role; they were to drive an updated version of the Spyker F8-VIIB chassis with Ferrari engines, christened the Force India VJM01 . Testing of the car begun in February, after the gold, tungsten and white liveried car

15576-549: The team's reserve driver, and will also take part in Friday practice for the team during the season. The team's car, the VJM05 , was launched at Silverstone on 3 February. The Force India crew tried to pull out of the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix due to a revolution against the regime and the death of a protester. However, after the team's refusal to take to the circuit, there was a confrontation between F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone and

15708-452: The teams reached an agreement to prevent a breakaway series. It was agreed teams must cut spending to the level of the early 1990s within two years; exact figures were not specified, and Max Mosley agreed he would not stand for reelection to the FIA presidency in October. Following further disagreements, after Mosley suggested he would stand for reelection, FOTA made it clear that breakaway plans were still being pursued. On 8 July, FOTA issued

15840-600: The teams to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA. He offered Formula One to circuit owners as a package they could take or leave. In return for the package, almost all that was required was to surrender trackside advertising. The formation of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) in 1979 set off the FISA–FOCA war , during which FISA and its president Jean-Marie Balestre argued repeatedly with FOCA over television revenues and technical regulations. The Guardian said that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used [FOCA] to wage

15972-672: The technological advances of the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One increased dramatically, thus increasing financial burdens. This, combined with the dominance of four teams (largely funded by big car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz), caused the poorer independent teams to struggle not only to remain competitive but to stay in business. This effectively forced several teams to withdraw. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won five consecutive Drivers' Championships (2000–2004) and six consecutive Constructors' Championships (1999–2004). Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91, since beaten by Lewis Hamilton ), wins in

16104-567: The top ten, with Liuzzi qualifying thirteenth. Liuzzi finished the race in seventh, while Sutil retired with an engine problem. In Malaysia Sutil scored ten points with fifth and Liuzzi retired early due to a throttle problem, his first retirement of the season. In the next few races, apart from a retirement from Liuzzi, the Force Indias had quiet races in the midfield, staying mainly out of the action in front of and behind them, with Sutil scoring points in Spain . At Monaco both cars finished

16236-438: The top-five since the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix with Hülkenberg finishing fourth and Pérez finishing in fifth. As a result, the team took fourth place in the Constructors' Championship from Williams , their highest ever finishing position in the team's history. In 2017 , Hülkenberg left Force India to join Renault . Esteban Ocon was signed to replace him in his first full season in Formula One, having driven for Manor during

16368-478: The track as well. Drivers from McLaren , Williams , Renault (formerly Benetton ), and Ferrari , dubbed the "Big Four", won every World Championship from 1984 to 2008 . The teams won every Constructors' Championship from 1979 to 2008 , as well as placing themselves as the top four teams in the Constructors' Championship in every season between 1989 and 1997 , and winning every race but one (the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix ) between 1988 and 1997 . Due to

16500-538: The trend originally started by Jordan Grand Prix and continued by Midland F1, the new car's naming designation relates directly to Spyker's heritage as a car and aircraft manufacturer. When the Dutch company started trading at the beginning of the 20th century it launched car models named A, B and C. When Spyker CEO Victor Muller resurrected the Spyker name in 2000 he wanted to build on that strong history. "When we launched

16632-425: The wake behind the car turbulent or 'dirty'. This prevented other cars from following closely due to their dependence on 'clean' air to make the car stick to the track. The grooved tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of initially being of a harder compound to be able to hold the grooved tread blocks, which resulted in spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip failure, as the harder compound could not grip

16764-458: The world's premier forms of racing since its inaugural running in 1950 . The word formula in the name refers to the set of rules all participants' cars must follow. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix . Grands Prix take place in multiple countries and continents on either purpose-built circuits or closed roads. A point-system is used at Grands Prix to determine two annual World Championships: one for

16896-542: The year the aircraft was launched. Hence the F8-VII is the Spyker F line with eight cylinders in 2007. A "B Specification" car was launched midway into the 2007 season. The F8-VIIB's debut was initially planned for the Turkish Grand Prix , but was delayed to the Italian Grand Prix after the car failed the mandatory FIA crash testing programme. Adrian Sutil subsequently scored Spyker's one and only point in

17028-525: Was adopted in the 2006 season. Known as "knock-out" qualifying, it is split into three periods, known as Q1, Q2, and Q3. In each period, drivers run qualifying laps to attempt to advance to the next period, with the slowest drivers being "knocked out" of qualification (but not necessarily the race) at the end of the period and their grid positions set within the rearmost five based on their best lap times. Drivers are allowed as many laps as they wish within each period. After each period, all times are reset, and only

17160-478: Was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s, other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining races' outcomes more than driver skill, banned many such aids for the 1994 season. This resulted in cars that previously depended on electronic aids becoming very "twitchy" and difficult to drive. Observers felt

17292-537: Was launched at the Gateway of India in Mumbai . With an increased budget and wind tunnels from defence company EADS , the team set itself the target of beating Super Aguri , a squad which spent the previous seasons contesting at the back with Force India's predecessors. Melbourne was the scene of Force India's first race, and although the Australian Grand Prix gave the team a poor start with both drivers retiring in

17424-401: Was the only car constructed by Spyker F1 in their own right after their take-over from the struggling Midland F1 team part way through 2006. The F8-VII was described by the team as a solid base on which to build, as they had a relatively short period of time to produce the new F1 car. James Key , the technical director of Spyker F1, said, "We also tried to second guess as best we could what

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