Force India to use Toyota Wind Tunnel from 2015

Force India has announced that it will use the wind tunnel facilities of Toyota Motorsport.

Sahara Force India Formula One Team has announced that it will use the Toyota wind tunnel located in Cologne, Germany from next year onwards. Force India is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom with an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a group led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol bought the Spyker F1 team for €90 million.

Force India won their first Formula One world championship points and finished second in the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. In October 2011, Indian company Sahara India Pariwar, purchased 42.5% of Force India F1's shares at US$100 million

 They will use these facilities for their aerodynamic testing for the upcoming 2015 Formula One Championship series.

 Team Principal Vijay Mallya said: "The decision to use Toyota's facility in Cologne is indicative of our ambitions to continue as a competitive force in Formula One. It's one of the most significant decisions in our history and gives us access to what is regarded as one of the finest wind tunnels in the world”.

“We have used the facility previously on an ad hoc basis and we are aware of the advantages of basing all our aerodynamic research in Cologne. It will strengthen our approach and give us a solid base to build upon for the years to come."

This wind tunnel facility was previously used by many teams mostly the Ferrari and McLaren in F1 racing and is considered as one of the best in Europe. The team said it would surely strengthen their future aerodynamic and development capabilities. While the team own wind tunnel facilities in Brackley however will remain available for the external customers.

From the words of team boss Vijay Mallya it is one of the “most significant decisions” in the history of Force India.

From the F1 regulations 2015 onwards each team can use only one wind tunnel and the nomination for this should be made on or before 1 January 2015.

Appendix 8 of the sporting regulations states: "Each team may nominate only one wind tunnel for use in any one 12-month period. The first nomination must be made on or before 1 January 2015 and no re-nominations may be made for at least 12 months."

2014 Season

At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Sergio Pérez put Force India on the podium with a third place finish, its first time on the podium since Spa 2009.In Austria, Pérez achieved the third fastest lap in Force India's history.

Mallya slams Red Bull 'Cheats'

Force India Co-Owner Vijay Mallya has slammed Red Bull after both of their cars were excluded from Abu Dhabi qualifying for running an illegal front wing. The two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel were excluded from the results of qualifying after the front wing flaps of both cars were found faulty and illegal during a post-session inspection.

Mallya along with Gerard Lopez of Lotus and Sauber's Monisha Kaltenborn – met with Bernie Ecclestone and CVC chairman Donald Mackenzie to discuss the current distribution of funds and said the smaller teams had got the attention of F1's owners. Then, following Red Bull's exclusion from qualifying for running illegal front wing flaps, Mallya was criticise the four-time world champions. 

In a series of tweets, Mallya hit back at Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, who recently said that cash-strapped teams such as Force India should ”not turn up to a gunfight with a banana”.

A big F1 team that says we small outfits should not come with bananas to a gun fight, grabs maximum money and cheats on the regulations

— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) November 22, 2014

Arrogance and a superiority complex on the part of those who are paid to be in F1 should not dilute or colour those who pay to be in F1

— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) November 22, 2014

Have holders of purse strings and decision makers in F1 become slaves to the whims of the big boys and the contracts? What about F1 sport?

— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) November 22, 2014

Mallya had made clear that he was not happy with some of the comments made by other team owners, especially those who do not have any ownership of the team.

He said, "Some of the team principals who are paid to be here and do not pay to be here like some of us, have made some disparaging and very arrogant remarks. One thing that comes out is that we go to gunfight with bananas. Well, I say it's all very well and enjoy the banana right now, but a time will come when the banana will become a nuisance."