The prize for the first team to get their car image out there is…Sahara Force India.
With black added to the orange, white and green it looks pretty darn good. However, only a side shot image with limited detailing has been released and no THAT nose isn’t visible.
Having spoken to several key design personnel within F1 it seems clear that the 2014 car, no matter how impressive the livery (the design on the car) the design of the car is hard to love.
An ugly sister to last year’s platypus style front wing, this year descriptions are too rude to actually publish but I suppose with time we can make up our own minds about how best to describe them, pre-watershed!
Andrew Green is the man behind Force India’s VJM07…
“Apart from the obvious, it doesn’t look hugely different, but it is; almost every single part is a new design, from the front wing right back to the diffuser. Its genetics still lie in the 2013 car, but we’ve had to achieve the same results in a slightly different way.
The nose is a stand-out but from the nose backwards it looks quite similar. It’s a little bit ‘fatter’ for the increased cooling requirements, but we hope to trim that out during the early part of the season.”
How key are the aerodynamic changes for this year?
“There’s quite a dramatic reduction in downforce, especially with regard to the exhaust – there’s now very little you can do to capture the exhaust energy. That’s a big loss on the exit of corners, so traction becomes a premium. That, combined with a change in the front wing width, has changed all the flow structures on the car completely.”
Will noses be a key area of development?
“Our nose is a launch spec and later we will have an updated front end of the car, which potentially is quite different. We had to take quite a pragmatic view of it and say we’ve got to go testing so we’ve got to get a car out of the door.
What’s been the biggest challenge in terms of packaging?
“Cooling has been the biggest challenge – most of last summer was taken up trying to understand the cooling requirements of the power unit, and how best to optimise it in the chassis.”
And what about the drivers thoughts on this season? Nico Hulkenberg goes back to Force India after a year with Sauber. He will have a different trainer for 2014 and as the tallest driver will battle to fit in with the desired 64kg weight.
What are your thoughts on the new rules?
“It’s exciting times, but there’s not so much I can say at the moment – I think everybody is a bit in the dark in terms of how the car is going to behave, what it’s going to be like, and also the driving sensation for us in the car. There are quite a few question marks still there and I think we can’t really give you all the answers until we’ve been out on the track running.”
Are you the sort of driver who can adapt very easily to whatever driving style is required?
“I think you need to be able to adjust to the required circumstances and adjust your driving style. It’s not easy and it will be a big challenge for everyone involved. The drivers have to deal with fuel management and everything else as well, but I think that’s exciting. Going into the season I’ve never been in a situation like this in Formula One where we know so little about what to expect and what’s coming.”
Do you see it as an opportunity for the established order to be mixed up because it all depends on who has done a better job of interpreting the rules?
“I’m sure there’s an opportunity to do something special, but there’s also an opportunity to make a mistake and to go the wrong way. We won’t know until after the first couple of races.”
Do you see reliability as a key factor that teams can take advantage of?
“I’m sure that could play a role at some point. For now everybody has to master the challenge and focus on reliability and make sure they tick the box. We’re all in the same boat there, the manufacturers and all the teams.”
Finally, how would you sum up your goals for the season?
“I hope that we have a competitive car and that I can deliver good results, just like I did at the end of 2013. But again it’s really hard to define and set the targets with so many question marks in the game. Obviously we want to do well, we want to score a lot of points and I think maximising our package and our performance is the main target for now.”
So next to break cover for the cars should be the McLaren – minus a title sponsor but with Ron Dennis and apparently a bigger budget than in 2013. Hopefully we’ll also get a front wing shot!