Force India will have an improved VJM02 in Sakhir

The Force India team plans to introduce new aerodynamic modifications to its VJM02 for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The modifications will be present from the first free practice session this Friday.

Force India narrowly missed its first points last weekend in China. With the rain, the Indian team found itself in 7th position thanks to the talent of Adrian Sutil in these conditions. With 6 laps to go, the VJM02 was keeping pace well, but it was Sutil who let go. The German lost control and crashed his car into the tires, hopes dashed as well.

Vijay Mallya’s team, however, does not lose sight of its objective: to score its first points; and thus returns to Bahrain this weekend with an improved Force India-Mercedes VJM02. The new package will include a floor and a hybrid diffuser, identical to the one used by McLaren in China. Improvements will also concern the front wing, modified to allow for more downforce, as well as the addition of sidepods, those elements on the side of the pontoons, below the mirrors.

The 2009 regulations indeed provide for the prohibition of all aerodynamic appendages, but like the diffuser controversy, these sidepods take advantage of the loopholes in the regulations and have never been controversial, being an integral part of the carbon shell of the single-seater.

The team nonetheless does not hope for significant advancements and hopes to keep up with its competitors: “These modifications should allow us to stay close to the other teams,” comments Mallya, the team’s director. “But these changes have been planned for a long time, since February, and are not a direct consequence of the appeal decision on the diffusers, even if this helps us to implement them.”