Force India are well on track with their 2017 Formula 1 challenger – designated the VJM10 – with the mandatory FIA tests completed well ahead of the first preseason test which gets underway at Barcelona on 27 February.
Speaking to Racer, chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer said, “We’re well on our way with the car. We’ve passed all of our FIA tests which is great, first try. All the crash tests – the roll hoop test, side intrusion test, front nose test – we’ve passed, which is great because it’s all new.”
“For the first time ever we laminated and built the tub itself in-house, which worked really well. There’s a few tests which happen on the chassis too and we’ve passed them all.”
“We always bought [the tub] in. It was laminated and manufactured with a close eye of Force India overlooking the manufacturing process but it was never in-house; this is our first year doing it in-house.”
The team were stars of the 2016 season, finishing fourth in the constructors’ championship and with one of the smallest budgets in the Formula 1 paddock.
Szafnauer believes that the team’s in-house manufacturing capabilities are vital to their campaign, “Now we have control ourselves we can cut down the manufacturing time and allow more design and development time. So that should help – a little bit anyway – the performance of the car. The later we can leave designing the tub and some of the other components, the better off we are.”
Force India will launch the VJM10 at Silverstone on 22 February.
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
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