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Force India confident in new car
Force India launched their 2008 Formula One car on Thursday and co-owner Vijay Mallya said he is confident it would mark the start of better performances.
Force India raced as Spyker last season before being bought and renamed by a group headed by billionaire Mallya. The Ferrari-powered VJM01 has the same basic chassis as used by Spyker last year but has aerodynamic changes.
Spyker scored just one point and finished 10th overall in the 11-team championship - after McLaren were stripped of all their points for a spying controversy. Force India's new car will be tested for the first time in Barcelona on 25 February, and the test drives will be spread over three days.
The experience of the drivers - Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and German Adrian Sutil - provided value to the engineering team, Mallya said. Sutil was the most successful driver from last season's team, which was known as Spyker, while Fisichella joined Force India from Renault.
Force India's budget for the season has been set at $120m, an increase of $50m from last year.
Posted by
Sven Schindler at
February 11, 2008
in Formula1
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