What’s in a name? In the case of this column, quite a lot it would appear.
Shortly after I had gone to press with last weeks Braking Zone a reader commented that I had the name wrong – it should, she explained, be Braking Point. She was right, of course; breaking point is reached often when dealing with machinations of our much loved governing body, hence last weeks column shall remain the sole survivor of a now defunct item.
So, what is in a name?
On such has had tongues wagging over the winter for a number of reasons – I talk not of Ferrari, or McLaren, nor even Renault or BMW, but of Force India, the new incarnation of what was previously Spyker/Midland/Jordan.
Fronted by the larger than life Dr Vijay Mallya, a man already referred to as ‘Flav 2’, the little team has taken on an entirely new persona during the closed season. Where we long had an air of perennial back-marker there now exudes an optimism and enthusiasm not seen in these parts since the days of Eddie and the Irish, and there is good reason too.
When the new owners announced the name, we expected a revival of F1 fortune for Narain Karthikeyan, or for Karun Chandhok, as Mallya sought to instil a national driver in a national team. No disrespect to those two fine drivers, but it was a great relief to be assured that the very talented Adrian Sutil would be retained, and it has long been known that the second seat would go to Giancarlo Fisichella (as confirmed today). That Tonio Liuzzi is taken on as reserve driver simply strengthens the good doctors insistence that talent, rather than nationality or money, would secure the drive.
At the pre-Christmas tests Force India appeared to be attempting a world record for drivers tested in one session. No fewer than seven drivers got a shot – along with Sutil, Fisichella and Liuzzi the team also ran Christian Klien, Ralf Schumacher, Franck Montagny, Giedo van der Garde and Roldan Rodriguez. Odd it may have seemed, but it guaranteed column inches, and that is no bad thing for a small team.
Looking ahead, and what can we really expect?
It would be tempting to say more of the same, and by that I would mean qualifying and finishing dead last, rather than Sutil’s stunning Monaco wet practice show stopper, or Marcus Winkelhock’s hilarious yet deserved stint at the front of the pack at the Nurburgring. However, I’m not so sure that we cannot expect a major leap forward from the Silverstone-based team. No, of course they are not going to win races, and neither are they going to score podiums, but it is not too far fetched to see them scoring points on a number of occasions and embedding themselves in the midfield.
And here’s why: add Mike Gascoyne – an acknowledged talent in the engineering field – to the ambition and commitment of Dr Mallya, mix in the speed and talent of Sutil, sprinkle a little of Fisichella’s vast experience, and season with the extreme optimism and enthusiasm that pervades the factory these days, and you have a potentially giant-killing recipe. On paper, at least.
Rather than an updated version of last years Midland, which in turn was a re-hashed Jordan, Gascoyne is hard at work on a new chassis. Pictures have found their way onto a couple of sites, and it is a very neat design indeed, bang on par with conventional F1 thinking. Remember, too, that the same engine that took Kimi Raikkonen to the world title last year will power this chassis, and things start to look brighter still.
When one considers that Force India’s traditional rival – Super Aguri – are likely to be lumbered with the Honda RA107, that’s surely one scalp ripe for the taking. Next on the list – Scuderia Toro Rosso – are committed to starting 2008 with last year’s chassis, so the Force India should be a cut above that similarly powered device, too.
Who is next? Well, logically, it must be Honda and Toyota. The former are in the throes of a major restructuring that – headed by Ross Brawn – should see them advance considerably, but not in the immediate future, while the latter are expected to be just as cumbersome and out of touch as last season. I expect the little guys to mix it with the two Japanese giants in the early season at least, and I would venture that forays into the second segment of qualifying may become regular occurrences for Sutil and Fisichella.
Red Bull, Williams and Renault will be a different matter altogether, while the top three will be out on their own, but wouldn’t it be good to see the minnows – the true chassis building minnows – of F1 rock the boat once in a while?
On the driver front there is little doubt about Sutil’s speed and talent, although he can be ragged more often than he should be, but many have questioned the wisdom of taking on Fisichella, a driver widely written off as a spent force of late.
I think it is a wise decision, a very wise one in fact. If one looks at Giancarlo’s career in the top rank it is clear that he has always revelled in working with smaller, more intimate outfits. Indeed, he has been here before, and excelled in the Jordan days. There is no doubt Fisichella is a quick driver, and he is regarded as a true artist at the wheel, and there is little complaint about his technical ability either. At the recent test he leapt into the car, went very quickly, and made Ralf Schumacher look like a novice. It was the performance of a man with plenty still to give, rather than one who simply wants to be in F1 for the sake of it.
Time will tell, of course, and I may well be wrong, but the vibe from the Silverstone factory is one of a new era beginning; look at what Gascoyne did with the revised version of the Spyker late last season, and think of the strides an improvement of that ilk – or as it should be, greater – will present.
To put it bluntly, Force India have further to climb than anyone, and that means there is more up above than there is down below.
I wish them luck – I’m sure most do – and look forward to following the progress of the little team during the coming season. After all, everyone loves an underdog.
What’s in a name? Well, in the case of Force India, a couple of words and a long hard road ahead.
Written by Steve Turnbull on Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:37:49
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