Official: The VJM02 from Force India will be released in early March

The new VJM02 from Force India will be tested for the first time in Jerez during the first week of March.

The team always planned for this late launch because the new technical partnership with McLaren-Mercedes was only finalized at the beginning of November. The new car will therefore make its first kilometers from March 2nd to 4th in the south of Spain.

The new car, the VJM02, is under construction, Mallya stated in the columns of the Indian newspaper, the Hindustan Times.

« It will have an engine and a gearbox from the McLaren-Mercedes team, which is a big change compared to the VJM01. We will unveil it in Jerez at the beginning of March. »

Despite this late launch date, since the official start of the season will take place a month later with the Australian Grand Prix (March 29), Mallya is convinced that the car will be ready on time even taking testing restrictions into account.

« We have six days of testing, which is enough, I think, » continued Mallya. « Our factory in Silverstone is running at full capacity and I think we will be ready for the first race. I am convinced that we can be in the middle of the grid. »

Last month, Force India confirmed its drivers with Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi, the test driver for the Indian team.