Sahara Force India launched
its 2015 season offering fans and media a first impression of how the VJM08
will look when it makes its track debut in February 2015. A spectacular event
at the Soumaya museum in Mexico City saw the team’s drivers Sergio Perez and
Nico Hulkenberg pull back the covers to reveal the team’s fresh new look for
2015. This was stated in a press release issued by Sahara Force India.
The new car’s chassis features
an elegant combination of silver and black with the team’s traditional colour
of orange streaking from the nose cone to the rear of the car in two
symmetrical curves.
Key to the new livery is the
introduction of several commercial partners for 2015. Prominent NEC branding
appears on the engine cover to signal the beginning of a relationship with the
global ICT firm based in Tokyo, Japan. Also on the engine cover are the logos
of telecommunications brands Claro and Telcel as America Movil begins its
second season supporting the team.
Branding from world-famous
tequila brand, Jose Cuervo, features on the car’s headrest, while logos from
Latin America’s leading insurance broker, Inter, appear on the front wing end
plates. Motor oil brand, Quaker State, also partners with the team placing its
logos on the rear wing end plates.
The team has extended its
partnership with Smirnoff for a second season, in addition to the continuation
of long-time partners United Spirits, Kingfisher and Royal Challenge.
Team Principal, Dr Vijay Mallya,
was the first to praise the team’s new livery: “It’s another evolution of the
contemporary look we introduced last year, which reflects the growth of the
team and the global brands with which we are working. I love the addition of
silver, which makes the car appear more sleek and aggressive and I’m sure it’s
something that will appeal to the fans as well. Our traditional team colours
remain integrated in the livery, but we’ve given it a very modern twist.”
With relatively stable
technical regulations, the VJM08 has been designed with evolution rather than
revolution in mind. The most significant changes from the outside will appear
at the front of the car with the lowering of the front of the chassis and nose.
“The front of the car looks very different from what we had developed
previously,” explains Technical Director Andrew Green. “It is a redesign that
involved a lot of work over the winter, as the new regulations caused a loss in
terms of downforce and we’ve been working to claw back all that performance,”
he added.
The VJM08 will also feature
several subtle changes, including modified sculpting of the sidepods and new
cooling intakes. Underneath the skin there will be a completely new rear
suspension layout with a new hydro-mechanical system replacing the original
torsion springs. The VJM08 is expected to make its track testing debut in
Barcelona next month with the VJM07 running at the first test in Jerez.