F1 2013 Thread

**rage-wrx** · 02-01-2013 05:35 AM

Strangely Force India still only has one driver & Paul Di Resta unveiled the VJM06

Force India: A refined VJM06 | Planet F1 | Formula One | News, Standings, Results, Features, Video

Force India unveiled their VJM06 at Silverstone on Friday, saying it is not only an evolution but also better looking that it's predecessor.
The midfield outfit finished seventh in last year's Championship after ending with a run of nine consecutive grands prix in the points.
This year, though, Force India are hoping for better as their VJM06 is a refinement of last year's car.
"Obviously the regulations are reasonably stable from last year to this year, and the ban on the double DRS doesn't really affect us, for example," said technical director Andrew Green.
"We basically stopped developing last year's car around the middle of the season. In fact it was still being developed in the tunnel, but those parts were not being brought to the track.
"So the trackside guys had a chance to understand what they had, rather than it changing every week, which is really what happened up to that point.
"When you have something that is stable you can then refine it and really dial it in.
"We just tried to understand what the car was doing, where it differed from the model, and more importantly how we worked the tyres. We used that extra knowledge for this year's car, and it helped quite a lot."
But despite the new car being an evolution of last year's Green says there is a lot that has changed as well and not just the nose.
"It's a brand new car from the ground-up - everything is new, including the chassis. I know other teams were talking about carrying over big chunks of last year's car, but we haven't done that, to try and push ourselves up the grid.
"There were still some gains to be had with the chassis, so we elected to do that. However the car is evolution rather than revolution compared with last year, just due to the nature of the regulations.
"Visually probably the biggest thing that everybody's going to notice this year is the fairing on top of the nose to get rid of the step. It's completely neutral as far as the car is concerned, so it's a small thing really. We were happy to do it as the car looks nicer!"
He added: "There are quite a few changes under the skin. Because we focussed a lot on the tyres last year we've given ourselves quite a few more options on set-up to help us manage them from qualifying to the race.
"So that's something we'll be looking at going into winter testing - we'll be looking at those options and trying to understand them. It's going to be difficult because in testing it's so cold, but those options will give the engineers another weapon in their armoury.

Pics

Di Resta And His Force India VJM06 | Planet F1 | Formula One | Photo Gallery

**rage-wrx** · 02-01-2013 10:05 AM

**Soobvirgin** · 02-01-2013 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by rage-wrx

That's got to be exciting, starting at a new team. It's not like he does it every other year. But he just had to mention that he went quicker than Nico in testing the new car. What an ego

**rage-wrx** · 02-01-2013 10:37 AM

Britney doesn't seem to be bothered by talk like that. So its all in good humor I guess.

***RayfieldsWRX*** · 02-01-2013 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by Soobvirgin

But he just had to mention that he went quicker than Nico in testing the new car. What an ego

LOL, yeah, why can't he be like all of those other race car drivers that have small egos? Sheesh!

My understanding is that he and Nico have been friends for a long time...might have just been a friendly jab.

**Soobvirgin** · 02-01-2013 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by RayfieldsWRX

My understanding is that he and Nico have been friends for a long time...might have just been a friendly jab.

Actually, that's a good point. I'd forgotten about their friendship (despite Lewis mentioning it in the video).

**SD_GR** · 02-01-2013 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by Soobvirgin

Actually, that's a good point. I'd forgotten about their friendship (despite Lewis mentioning it in the video).

Still, money changes everything and egos don't usually help either. It'll be interesting to see what happens if they start competing with one another in earnest, or better still if the car isn't evolving as well as the others and they have to fight for row 4 each and every GP. Then nerves will start to show and it may become a soap opera -- in fact I'd not mind if it did, that'd make the team more interesting to me.