Force India have become the final team to unveil their 2018 F1 car – the VJM11.
The car remains pink for a second season, thanks to their sponsorship from BWT. COO of the Silverstone outfit, Otmar Szafnauer, says there’s still a ‘high probability’ that the team will change their name ahead of the new season, but they will appear at testing under the Force India name:
“If it doesn’t happen by Australia, there’s always next year. It will be a good thing to do earlier rather than later, but like I said, getting it right is more important than the timing, because it’s going to be there for a long time.”
Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon remain at the team for the 2018 season. The pair came into contact on a number of occasions in 2017, though it was the more experienced Perez who out-scored his team-mate over the course of the year.
After finishing ‘best of the rest’ in fourth in the Constructors’ Championship for the past two seasons, Force India are expected to come under increased pressure this year from Renault and McLaren.
After graduating in 2015 with a First Class honours degree in English Language and Literature, Nicky Haldenby, a lifelong fan of Formula 1, founded the Lights Out F1 Blog in 2016. Now in its sixth season, the blog has become a firm fan-favourite, delving deep into the sport’s history books and lifting the cover on unusual F1 statistics. Nicky also writes at F1Destinations and GPDestinations. In 2017 and 2018, he wrote for Badger GP. Nicky is also the host of the F1 Rewind Podcast and can be heard as the resident stats man on the 2 Soft Compounds Podcast.