While the mighty
Silver Arrows and Team Willy' will lead the Mercedes charge, their midfield
customers will give hearty chase. As can Force India hold off the reborn Lotus
in the vaunted Constructor's championship scrum?
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| Nico Hulkenberg gave the delayed Force India VJM08 chassis its maiden shakedown at Barcelona's final winter test. (Image source: f1fanatic.co.uk) |
Sahara Force India
F1 Team
Chassis: VJM08
Engine: Mercedes Benz
2014 Constructor Ranking: 6th; 155-points
Debut Race: 2008 Australian GP
Drivers
(Car#/Name)
11) Sergio Perez
27) Nico Hulkenberg
History
Force India's history dates back to 1991 when
a plucky Irishman known simply as 'EJ, nee Eddie Jordan entered F1 with a bang!
Running his bright green Jordan Grand Prix entries under the 7UP banner, with the excellent 191's
penned by long-term designer Gary Anderson being competitive due to their Ford
HB V-8 lumps and tidy packaging. As this was the very same chassis somebody
named 'DER TERMINATOR (Michael Schumacher) made his Grand Prix debut at Spa
aboard later that year!
Jordan's best season came in 1999 when
"Heinz 57" (Heinz-Harald Frentzen) won races and actually competed
for that year's driver title before the team began its steady decline, with the
final victory coming from "Fishy Fella's" (Giancarlo Fisichella)
exploding Cosworth 'lump in Brasilia, circa 2003!
The team then fell into disarray, before
Jordan finally sold the team to Canadian businessman Alex Shnaider in late '05,
who renamed it Midland F1, also known simply as MF1, which contested the 2006
season as the very first Russian
"flagged" Formula 1 Constructor in honour of Shnaider's
roots.
Next
the team went orange when being run by the Dutch who named it Spyker in honour
of its owners being Spyker Cars NV. And finally, after this operation went sour
a year later, "Vee-jay 'Duh Playah" (Vijay Mallya) took
control in 2008 and rebranded Spyker into
today's current Force India guise.
Notes
The VJM08 was late to the party, with Force
India skipping the first winter test completely, along with running last year's
car at the first Barcelona test, as the team as typical has struggled with
financial issues - as won't even lament Roy Sahara being incarcerated and Mallya's
business failings; Can Y'all say Kingfisher bankruptcy!
As the team should be a solid mid-pack runner
once again with its decent chassis being powered by the dominant Mercedes and
two very good drivers, as the "Incredible Hulkster" (Nico Hulkenberg)
is notorious for points scoring finishes, while Checa," nee Sergio Perez
will be the crowd darling during this year's Mexican GP...
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|
Lotus reveals its E23 challenger with early photo
release. (Image source: skysports.com)
|
Lotus F1 Team
Chassis: E23 Hybrid
Engine: Mercedes Benz
2014 Constructor Ranking: 8th; 10-points
Debut Race: 2012 Australian GP
Drivers
(Car#/Name)
8) Romain Grosjean
13) Pastor Maldonado
History
It's pretty funny how I've spanned the range
of emotions with this team, as its previous incarnation as Lotus Renault GP was
total scourge to Mwah due to the infighting vs. Tony Fernandes & Co. Yet
this team's origins can be traced all the way back to 1981's Toleman Motorsport,
which then morphed into the championship winning Benetton team! Next, the
Benetton family sold it to Renault, who was returning to Formula 1 after
departing in 1986.
Then Renault grew tired of not being a
"Contender" - not to mention the despicable "Crash-Gate" affair!
As le 'Reggie promptly sold the team off to Gerard Lopez's Genii Capitol which
entailed a mighty scrum over who was
privy to using the storied Lotus moniker
in Formula 1, which ultimately reverted to today's Lotus F1 Team - as sadly
Fernandes grew tired of being a back-marker and dumped his rival Caterham squad
disgracefully! With Lopez & Co. retaining the Lotus name...
Notes
After a torrid season with the underpowered
Renault PU, the Enstone based squad separated itself from its two decades-plus le
'Reggie (Renault) association and will embark anew this year with the mighty
three pointed star affixed upon its nose, as its interesting to note that Lotus
is the second F1 Constructor to wisely incorporate the moniker Hybrid into its
chassis identity; since say what you want, but, I've become a big believer of
the current engine technology for future passenger car fuel efficiency.
I look forward to seeing Romain Grosjean
return to the front of the grid, as he
definitely showed his true wares in 2013, where he finished runner-up at
Circuit Of The Americas for instance! Whilst I've never been a fan 'O Pastor
Maldonado, who in the eternal words 'O thy late 'Awntie Harriet is a "Hot
Head;" Hya! While I missed the memo over reigning GP2 champion Jolyon Palmer
being signed as the team's Test/Reserve Driver, which will at least keep his
foot in Formula 1...
