26 replies to this topic

[sopa]

So, that's it, folks. Force India as we knew it is gone, and sold. RIP Force India (2008-2018), long live Racing Point.

 

Time to look back at the Mallya-owned team. How would you sum up the decade they were involved in F1? Any special memories, highlights? 

 

As a reminder, their Constructors championship positions in the timeframe of 2008-2017.

10  9  7  6  7  6  6  5  4  4

[Jvr]

As the positions you shared show, they have been on an upward trend over the ten years, when compared to competition.

 

With a limited budget I would say that is a respectable sporting achievement.

 

And I leave all Mallaya related out of the track topics out of my assessment.

[PayasYouRace]

The team did very well and were doing as good as job as they did when they were Jordan.

[Jon83]

Over-achieved.

[ensign14]

You can take it back to Jordan in 1991.  Almost always punched well above their weight.  Basically The Cartel stopped them from being serious competitors by making sure Ferrari got more in bonus than Jordan ever got in income.  Circle the wagons.

[baddog]

Perennial over-achievers, with flashes of brilliance and periods of mediocrity.

[Baddoer]

Benefitted enormously from Mercedes engine and rear-end, yet made most of it.

[noikeee]

Did a great job of extracting performances from money they didn't have and spent anyway.

Edited by noikeee, 28 August 2018 - 11:05.

[AlexPrime]

The best midfield team.

[Bloggsworth]

Nearly men...

[Eff1]

Very impressive. Punched above their weight and made steady progress till now. No doubt this made them an attractive proposition to many investors. Not sure how it would have panned out had they remained at their 2008 level throughout.

[Sterzo]

They took what looked like a backmarker team potentially spiralling out of existence, found and supplemented the skill and talent within the workforce, and became a respectable and effective racing force. (Pun  intended). They consistently over-achieved in relation to resources, and made a series of sound decisions about engineers, managers and drivers.

[absinthedude]

Force India took over a team which had definitely seen better days and which seemed to be in terminal decline, and turned it around. On track FI has performed admirably for the last 8 out of it's 10 seasons. It would be akin to taking Williams from where they are now to regular podium chasers in 2020 and keeping it that way into 2027. They often punched above their weight and delivered results consistently on the track. They provided a great place for drivers to prove themselves, or show they weren't up to it. 

[lustigson]

It's interesting to see that often there is much praise for 'Enstone', meaning the Toleman come Benetton come Renault come Lotus come Renault outfit. And rightfully so, although the team has had its ups and downs.

 

The same praise is due for 'Silverstone': Jordan was a top player bar their final seasons, there was a slump with Midland, Spyker and the first Force India season (1 point in 3 seasons), and the upwards trend started in the following season.

 

So, with stability, and reasonable funding, it's a sub-top team that can fight for points and the odd podium, but with proper funding, who knows.

[Lights]

Their budget-to-points ratio is amazing. They made something of the Jordan team after Midland and Spyker failed. Definitely over-achievers. And I'm not sure which personnel ever received the right credit for their achievements?

Edited by Lights, 28 August 2018 - 11:17.

[lustigson]

How 'Silverstone' scored over the past 27 seasons (2018 not included). The right-most column shows the team's points as a percentage of the WCC's.

Edited by lustigson, 28 August 2018 - 11:26.

[Neno]

They suck. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/s More succesful than some manufacturer and glory F1 teams. Those wish they have FI success. 

[Nonesuch]

They did very well, and unlike Williams, have made the most of their Mercedes partnership.

[Pete_f1]

They made the most of what they had. Other teams would be better off thinking and working like them.

They should have one in Spa that one year

[messy]

They were impressive, and hopefully remain so. The team has been sold, but is still made up of the same people and whatever it's called, it's still in most ways the same team and I hope they continue to do the good stuff they've done up to now. I hope they don't lose the essence of what's made them such a successful team. 

 

It's funny, if I think of Force India I always go back to 2012 as the year they really came good even though that represents the one dip in their WCC standings. That 2012 car was really competitive and driven by two promising young drivers both there on merit. Hulkenberg could have won in Brazil on merit and I remember him having a really, really strong run to fourth place at Spa. The car looked more sophisticated than anything they'd rolled out before and the drivers made good use of it, only missing out of the kind of headline result that Sauber (Malaysia) and Williams (Spain) managed through bad luck, really. From that point onwards they have gone from strength to strength. 

 

I always held them up as the shining example of how to run an F1 team which makes their near demise so sad this year. But thankfully disaster has been averted. 

[Atreiu]

Right place, wrong time.

[MikeTekRacing]

impressive! A team that followed Jordan's success, picked up from Spyker (former Midland) in a moment where bankruptcy looked certain. Sure, it still ended up bankrupt but offered a hell of a show for their money these years. Not a one year fluke, constantly mixing it with the big boys...made the most out of the Mercedes engine (unlike Williams).

 

For me it actually created a brand out of nothing. Force India seemed like a ridiculous name and an empty brand but I actually ended up rooting for them in many races.

 

Hats off to the people behind this

[sopa]

Benefitted enormously from Mercedes engine and rear-end, yet made most of it.

 

Interesting to remember that their first technical partnership was actually with McLaren in 2009. Basically this is what laid the foundations for their rise. Not only got they Mercedes engines - first time Merc' started to supply a customer team in F1! But they also bought the whole transmission. I think Force India may have been the first one, who went that route? But they set off in this way and soon it became standard for customer teams to purchase the whole drivetrain.

 

Beginning of 2009 was like the old MF1/Spyker/FI, who was at the back. But their in-season development was one of the best ever seen, up there with McLaren that year. Interestingly, 2009 Belgian GP has remained their best ever chance to win a race along with Brazil 2012. So while they momentarily rose to the top on some circuits (including Monza '09), they couldn't quite remain there, and dropped to midfield, where they have remained. And you could excuse Brazil '12 being wet, which suited their setup and Hulk.

 

Only other instance I can remember, when FI ever had a shot at the victory, was Perez in Canada 2014, when both Mercedes hit trouble.

 

While they had established themselves solidly in midfield, 2014 regulations and having the "right engine" helped them a lot. So they comfortably ended in top 6 in the constructors despite having some troubles with chassis performance in some parts of 2014 and 2015. But their chassis has gone ever stronger since then and they are still going well, despite Merc having gradually lost their PU advantage by now.

 

The funding obviously has remained a mystery for a while.   Despite having reportedly been "on the financial limit" for much of the decade, they managed to survive for quite long and kept designing good chassis. So whatever problems Mallya had, he made a good job of not letting the team getting distracted by it.

[rbartlett]

I was around there from 99 to 2016 with a couple of years missing during the spyker Midland period which was apparently very grim.

I believe the difference was the McLaren connection. They brought in senior management like Simon Roberts who put procedures into place and made excellence their goal. I believe under his tenure the desire to win not just turn up is what made the difference.

This is only as a contractor visiting a few times a month on average during the time mentioned above. Others closer to the centre would no doubt be better to ask
As regards VJ I have nothing bad to say as I only saw him there a few times during the whole time during the beginning he was there s lot but as time went by he was rarely seen but no one I spoke to spoke bad about him....ifrc
But as a team owner he did way more to keep it afloat than most would or could.

[king_crud]

How 'Silverstone' scored over the past 27 seasons (2018 not included). The right-most column shows the team's points as a percentage of the WCC's.

you're saying in 1999 they finished 3rd in the WCC but scored 48% of the points available? That's mathematically impossible

[messy]

48% as much as the champions isn't it? 

[sopa]

How 'Silverstone' scored over the past 27 seasons (2018 not included). The right-most column shows the team's points as a percentage of the WCC's.

 

A minor correction. In 2000 Jordan was 6th in WCC.