BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Force India unveiled its 2008 VJM01 car at a glamorous launch in Mumbai, India on Feb. 7.
“This is truly historic for two reasons,” the team’s new co-owner Vijay Mallya said. “One, this is the first time in history that an Indian ASM [motor sport authority] of the FIA has issued an entrance license for a F-1 team. So, we go into the 2008 F1 World Championship as an Indian entry.
“The second is the unveiling of the World Championship 2008 car in front of you here in Mumbai, in front of the historic Gateway of India. This is a passionate, emotional and hugely proud moment for me personally.”
Holland’s Michiel Mol, co-owner with Mallya, agreed to let the British-based team be entered with an Indian license.
Carrying a new paint scheme of white, gold, tungsten gray and red striping, and with premiere sponsorship from Mallya’s Kingfisher group, Mallya said the car is a symbol of India emerging as a global economic superpower.
“Most importantly, the Force India F1 Team has come to epitomize the dream of every Indian and is powered by the passion of a billion hearts!” Mallya said.
Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne told reporters at the launch that the car is basically last year’s Spyker F8-VII.
“That was actually quite a good car,” Gascoyne said. “But we have got some significant updates to come. The car will mechanically be the basis of the B-specification we raced at the end of last year. But that will be with a full new aero package plus mechanical updates. We will run that in testing in Spain before the first race.”
One of the biggest changes for the team is that Mallya has nearly doubled the annual budget to $120 million, by far the most cash the Jordan/Midland/Spyker team has had in its history since Eddie Jordan founded it in 1991.
“I think there is a real reason now — the budget — that we can move forward from the back of the grid,” Gascoyne said. “For the last few years this team has been stumbling around, with no investment, with no chance of doing anything but running at the back.”
However, Force India’s budget is still only one-third to one-quarter of that spent by the top teams.