The Force India VJM05 is expected to run at Jerez

The winter period is somewhat of a dead time for F1 fans because not much happens – except for a few transfer rumors when all the seats aren’t assigned yet. But for the people who work in F1, it’s a crucial time because it’s when the new car is set up.

The Force India team is no exception to the rule. The Indian team has been working for several months on its new single-seater, and January is a crucial month because this is when the first model is built and started. The first VJM05 should be completed next week. A first model has already been built, but it was used to pass FIA tests in December, as the team explains on its website.

Andrew Green, the technical director of the Sahara Force India team, explains that he loves this time of year because there is a lot of excitement and a desire to do well. And once the car is finalized and started for the first time, there will be a lot of enthusiasm.

There is always a buzz around what is happening. I have been able to see the car through the model for a while now. But for many people, they only see it for the first time once it’s completely built. It is always an exciting moment when the car starts for the first time, and it’s like a birth! Andrew Green shared.

Green also admits that this is a difficult period for engineers because they are wondering if their rivals will come up with better ideas than theirs.

It’s a busy period for us, there are also many uncertainties. We don’t know how well we’ve worked this winter compared to our rivals, and there’s also some anxiety due to the wait for the launch of other cars to see what they’ve done.

The technical director of the Silverstone-based team also revealed that the initial work on the VJM05 dates back to June 2011 – during the mid-season. The team therefore worked on two fronts simultaneously, the development of the VJM04 and the initial testing of the VJM05.

« We started working on it in June, and the first wind tunnel tests were conducted in July. We then took the model out for a week in August to prepare a novelty for the VJM04.»

This has been a very tight 2011 season, with intense competition in the final races. We didn’t know how it was going to turn out. We didn’t expect such a strong response from Toro Rosso at the end of the season – they seemed to have major developments in Suzuka. It’s quite unusual for a team to come up with such changes so late in the season. So the focus (on 2011) was until the last race in Brazil. But from that moment on, we worked 100% on the new car.

Andrew Green also explained that the regulatory change, requiring cars to have passed all FIA crash tests before being able to participate in testing, made things a bit more complicated, but the team managed it well and is still on schedule to see the VJM05 make its debut in Jerez.

We are on schedule, and that’s good news! It has been a bit more challenging this year because we had to approve the chassis before testing. So, the schedule was revised to manage that. The chassis was approved in December.

« We all crossed our fingers! You hope that everything that has been done in analysis will really work like that. It’s always a nice feeling to pass the tests one by one without the slightest problem. Everyone should be congratulated for this. »

Green also stated that being able to pass the crash tests in December allowed some of the team to take a few days off during the holidays with peace of mind, even though this wasn’t the case for everyone.

Most of the staff was able to take a few days off at Christmas to recharge their batteries. It has been a long season and we will have another one this year. The guys need time for themselves, they need to see their families.

Not everyone, however, had the opportunity to truly rest during the holidays, as the performance of a single-seater largely comes from its aerodynamics, and in order not to break the team’s good momentum, the staff working for the aerodynamics department, particularly in connection with the wind tunnel, had to continue working.

«But we try not to give too many days off to the wind tunnel guys! They keep working because that’s where the car’s performance comes from, so we make sure not to stop that work. We will do everything we can to give them time off at another point in the year,» concluded Andrew Green.