Q&A WITH ESTEBAN OCON

Esteban, you’re entering your first full season of Formula One – share your emotions with us…

“I’m very excited ahead of the season and the beginning of this new era of Formula One. The winter has gone massively quickly and the whole team has been working very hard to help me prepare for this new chapter. There is so much to take in and learn, and lots of new people to meet, but I’m feeling at home already. The main emotion is simply one of excitement and anticipation.”

What are your first impressions of working with this team? What makes Force India special?

“I would say two words: atmosphere and motivation – that’s what stands out about this team. It really feels like a family and everybody is motivated to deliver the best possible car and great results. I’m really impressed by the feeling inside the factory.”

How steep will your learning curve be in 2017?

“You can always learn more. Even if you have started 100 races, you can still improve. I think the nine races I did last year have helped me to discover some of the main challenges you face as a Formula One driver. I’ve learned where you need to put your focus and energy. I don’t feel like a rookie anymore and this team needs me to be on the pace straight away and getting strong results. I feel ready for this opportunity.”

What were the main jobs over the winter?

“The seat fit was the main priority and being comfortable in the car is very important because the new cars will be even more physical to drive compared to last year. I’ve done lots of simulator sessions, too, and spent time with my engineering team.”

Tell us how intense your fitness regime has been over the last few months…

“I’ve been taking my fitness very seriously because the cars are going to be so much quicker this year. Instead of a two-week training camp, I’ve already done two full months at altitude in the Pyrenees. The training has been very high intensity and I’ve focussed on gaining some weight to help my strength. I’ve also done visualisation and reaction work because quicker cars mean you need to make decisions faster.”

What can we expect from the 2017 cars in terms of their physicality?

“You will feel the extra force of the cars all over your body, not just in your neck. For example, the braking pressure to stop the car will be much higher so you need the strength in your legs. The g-force will increase everywhere – under braking and in corners – so it’s going to be a more physical experience.”

What about your new teammate Sergio? How are you getting along together?

“I don’t know him very well yet, but we spoke a few times towards the end of last year during the drivers’ parades. We spoke about this team and why he wanted to stay here. He’s a great guy and I look forward to learning from him because he is an excellent driver who has achieved some awesome things with this team.”

What are your goals for this season?

“I’ve got to aim to score points at every race. That’s the level of this team and I will be disappointed if we don’t start the season with some good results. I know it’s not going to be easy and all the teams around us are going to be strong, but we’ve got to aim high. The first goal is to make the most of testing and develop the car in the best direction. After two weeks in Barcelona we will hopefully have a better idea of what to expect in Melbourne.”

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Q&A WITH SERGIO PEREZ

It’s almost three months since you were last in an F1 car – you must be ready to get back behind the wheel…

“I’m really excited and looking forward to seeing this year’s cars. The new rules represent a massive change for everyone in the team and for me as a driver. After the long winter and preparation at the factory, you simply want to get out on track and experience your new car.” 

How did you spend the off-season?

“It’s been a mixture of relaxation and lots of training. It was nice to go home to Mexico and see my friends and family because it’s not something I can do often during the racing season. Also, this year my training schedule has been much busier because I need to be ready for the massive physical challenge of the 2017 cars.

Have you done anything different this winter on the fitness front?

“I’ve not really changed that much, but just spent more time doing the same things. Normally I would spend the month before testing doing intensive training, but this year I’ve been working really hard for two and a half months. I’ve been training in the hot weather too.”

What will be the biggest change compared to last year?

“It’s going to be the energy and force you feel through the corners. It’s going to be much more physical with bigger lateral forces. Also, I expect less degradation with this year’s tyres so the rhythm of the races is going to be faster with less drop-off. I really hope that these new regulations will test us as drivers and put us under pressure. Formula One needs to expose who are the best drivers over two hours and I think the new rules are taking us in this direction.”

How are you getting on with your new teammate Esteban?

“I don’t know Esteban that well yet, but he seems very friendly. I’ve always got on well with my teammates and my relationship with Nico [Hulkenberg] was very open so I think it will be the same with Esteban. I hope we can push each other hard because it’s important to have somebody next to you who can really challenge you. That’s what the team needs too.”

This is your fourth season with Sahara Force India. You must know the team inside out by now…

“The time here has gone really quickly. We’ve had an incredible amount of success in the last three years and I want this fourth year to be even better. Knowing everybody makes a massive difference because you feel as though you are part of the family, which is especially important when you start working with a new set of regulations.”

What are your personal goals for the new season?

“My target is to improve on what we achieved last year, which will be a big challenge. I hope that we can be one of the surprises of the season and I even dream that we can achieve our first victory together. This is a pure racing team; everybody understands their role and we all work well together. That’s why I believe we can keep delivering in 2017.”

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Q&A WITH VIJAY MALLYA

Vijay, 2017 is the tenth year of Sahara Force India competing in Formula One. That’s quite a milestone…

“I’m very proud of the journey we have taken over the last ten seasons to become an established Formula One team racing at the sharp end of the grid. When I think back to 2008 and the task facing us, it’s remarkable to see the progress we have made and the way the team has evolved. Everybody associated with this team deserves huge credit for the achievements of 2016 and I still regard our fourth place finish as one of my proudest moments.”

Can the team keep delivering at this level going forward?

“We don’t underestimate the scale of the challenge ahead of us, especially with the sport undergoing a huge overhaul of the technical regulations. Simply repeating our performance level of 2016 will be a big task in itself. I don’t want to set goals or targets other than to say that we intend to maintain the momentum we have built up in recent years and carry it into the new season. There are too many unknowns to say more than this.”

Are you excited by the shake-up of the technical rules?

“I think it’s important that Formula One stands out as the clear pinnacle of motorsport and there’s no doubt this year’s cars will look more aggressive. The drivers always want more speed and hopefully it will excite the fans. The learning curve will be very steep this year, too, so I think each weekend will have a bit more uncertainty, which is good for the show. I’m not convinced that the new cars will generate better wheel-to-wheel racing, but let’s wait and see what happens.”

The team has a new driver this year with Esteban Ocon alongside Sergio – it’s an interesting pairing…

“Our philosophy has always been to choose the quickest drivers available and I’m very happy to welcome Esteban to the team. Together with Sergio, I believe we have one of the most exciting line-ups on the grid. Esteban is young but we know he has the raw talent and potential to develop. As for Sergio, he showed last year that he is an exceptional racing driver. This is his fourth year with us and he has matured to become one of the most complete racers on the grid. He is our benchmark and provides valuable consistency as we enter the new season. Who better for Esteban to learn from?”

The car has more silver on it this year – tell us the thinking behind the new livery?

“We’ve kept the basic colour scheme that we’ve been running for the last couple of years, but we’ve just freshened up the design slightly. Everybody has been telling me how much they love the colours on our cars so there was no reason to make a radical change. This livery gives our cars a contemporary and premium feel, which works well considering the partners we have on the car.”

www.forceindiaf1.com 

Mallya: Renault may have to eat its words

Vijay Mallya has dismissed Cyril Abiteboul's suggestions that Formula 1's 2017 development race would be tough on small teams, saying the Renault boss "might have to eat his words".

With an aggressive update programme predicted for the 2017 campaign given the introduction of the new technical regulations, Abiteboul suggested during yesterday's Renault launch that smaller-budget teams like Force India and Haas would find themselves outspent in an "arms race".

Force India boss Mallya, speaking during Force India's 2017 car launch at Silverstone, insisted Abiteboul's concerns were unfounded.

"I read an article this morning that Cyril Abiteboul of Renault said that poor teams such as Force India were going to suffer in this arms race. Well, good luck to him," Mallya said.

"He might have to eat his words. It's not the amount of arms you have, it's the quality of your weaponry."

Force India achieved its best constructors' championship result in Formula 1 with a fourth-place finish last year and, Mallya insisted the team was only interested in improving on that result.

"If we did not dream big, we would not have finished fourth in the world championship last year," he said.

"To be in the company of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari is a huge accomplishment in itself.

"We will always dream big, we have never ever had conversations, even in private, that we are not going to break into the top three.

"That is certainly going to be our objective. We will give it our best shot."

Talking about the new rules and their effect on the balance of power among F1 teams, Mallya said: "The 2017 regulations have meant that everybody has to start with a clean slate.

"I don't think we will know the pecking order, or likely pecking order, before the test in Barcelona [next week].

"I know we have to continue to develop the car right through the 2017 season, there is no stopping because we are starting from scratch.

"All teams will be doing the same - we have planned for it and we are very excited."

Autosport.com

Force India warns of suspension protests

Force India technical director Andy Green believes a protest against trick suspension systems could overshadow Formula 1's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Debate between teams about clever hydraulic suspension devices run by Mercedes and Red Bull has been ongoing since Ferrari wrote to the FIA at the end of last year to query their legality.

While the most recent talks between teams earlier this month failed to reach a resolution, F1 race director Charlie Whiting is expected to issue a technical directive before next week's first pre-season test explaining how much suspension systems can influence aerodynamics.

When asked at the launch of his team's 2017 F1 car about if he felt the matter could rumble on until the first race of the season, Green said: "Yep. I definitely can see it happening."

Green clarified, however, that Force India would not be a part of any action among teams to get a ruling on the matter.

"We will stand back and see how it develops and then react to it like we normally do," he said.

Green said Force India has been evaluating its own advanced hydraulic system, but said its introduction would depend on the FIA's final ruling on the matter, and whether the characteristics of Pirelli's 2017 tyres required it.

"We have been testing various concepts for a while now," he said. "Each has got some merits.

"We really want to see how the tyres perform, what the balance is, and where the weakness of the tyres is so we can then attack that with a mechanical solution.

"We cannot have all the options on the table ready and waiting, depending on what Pirelli's tyre performs like. So we have to wait.

"And hopefully in that time, the FIA will give everybody some guidance about what is and isn't allowed, because that is what we need at the moment. There is too big a grey area."

MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR CLARITY

Green believes F1 chiefs lost a good opportunity to prevent the suspension matter reaching this point by not clarifying matters long ago, and potentially outlawing the trick systems when they were being developed for the first time.

"I would have liked some more clarity on the suspension side," he explained.

"That really had muddied the waters and it is unnecessary.

"It is under the skin. I don't think it is great for the show.

"The fans don't know any difference and it can be incredibly complicated the systems that are being run - and expensive.

"They are marginal gains for quite substantial expense.

"I would have liked to have seen all of that nipped in the bud a bit earlier, and not been allowed to develop to where it has got to now."

Autosport.com 

Force India reveals its VJM10 2017 Formula 1 car

Force India unveiled its 2017 Formula 1 car, the VJM10, at Silverstone on Wednesday.

The Mercedes-powered design will be driven by team regular Sergio Perez and former Manor driver Esteban Ocon, who replaces Renault-bound Nico Hulkenberg.

It is the 10th F1 challenger produced under the Force India name, with the sometime Jordan, Midland and Spyker team now nearly a decade into its stint under Vijay Mallya.

As was the case with the previous three F1 cars unveiled so far this year, the VJM10 features a thumb-tip nose and a shark fin, as well as significantly different front and rear wings to meet the new aero regulations come.

Force India enjoyed its strongest season to date in 2016, when it finished in fourth place in the constructors' championship with 173 points, beating the likes of Williams and McLaren.

"I'm very excited," said Mallya as the car was unveiled.

"Many commentators have said we punch well above our weight and to add to that we are world champions for the amount of money spent.

"It is a huge compliment, it speaks volumes for the passions, creativity and talent of my team and everyone at the factory.

"This passsion will get more intense and the passion to improve further is going to be pretty relevant in 2017."

Technical director Andy Green said the scale of design change prompted by the new regulations was much higher than usual.

"Compared to previous seasons, this is as close to brand new - it is 95% brand new," he said.

"The philosophy is similar but we are effectively starting from scratch.

"It was a jigsaw to put togther but we have the basis of a car now."