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For the nerds out there who like me, like to know the technical specs, here’s the info:-
The team’s base is in Silverstone UK and will remain there. Colin Kolles will remain as team principal into 2008. Michiel Mol is director of F1 racing, and Mike Gascoyneis the Chief Technology Officer. The team will use the Spyker F8-VII chasis which the Spyker team was using last year and will use the Ferrari engines available for customers as per the Spyker F1 team’s existing deal with Ferrari which runs until 2010. Etihad Airways remains the primary sponsor of the team and hence the official name for the team is Etihad Force India Racing team. Information on other sponsors can be found on the team’s official sponsors page. Mallya has also casually mentioned his intention of using his personal equation with Airbus to do Aerodynamics and Wind-tunnel Testing for the team.
The team will use tyres supplied by Bridgestone which will be the sole tyre manufacturer since the 2007 season a move which stinks!! All the teams which were competitive were using tyres supplied by Michelin, all except one — Ferrari. This decission directly impacts free and fair competition between team and is ultimately bad for the sport. This move just shows how much clout the team from Maranello has in Formula1. The team which benefits the most by this is of course going to be Ferrari. It will be interesting to see how hard Bridgestone punishes the teams which had tyres supplied by it’s rival Michelin which if one were to consider racing statistics and results, made better tyres than Bridgestone.
Coming back to Force India, Magneti Marelli’s Motorsport Department will be taking care of the design, manufacture and technical sales support for a the hardware and software applications required by Force India. The official information put up on the official Force India website is:
Magneti Marelli’s Motorsport Department is involved with the design, manufacture and technical sales support for a complete range of parts, hardware and software products for racing applications and motor racing championships. The business line is based in Corbetta (MI), with plants at Venaria (TO) and Bologna, and application centres in France, the UK, USA, Brazil and Japan. This highly qualified department which comprises a team of over 100 specialised engineers and technicians, enables Magneti Marelli to partner the top teams in Formula 1, WRC, MotoGP, Superbike, GP2, FIA GT and other championships.
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The above textbook style text basically just says that the design, manufacture and technical sales support for the hardware and software applications required by Force India will be taken care of by Magneti Marelli. Actually, there’s Joint venture signed in India between Magneti Marelli and Sumi Motherson aimed at the production of lighting systems and engine control systems.
An interesting aspect of the sport many people do not know or simply ignore is that Formula1 is not just mechanics/aerodynamics of the car and driver ability. The sport is also dominated by electronic & computer systems which control nearly every function that the
cars
In a sport where mini seconds matter, the pit crew saving or wasting a couple of seconds often is what determines results. The inch perfect and finesse kind of drive which F1 requires makes it difficult to overtake on track and often you see positions being switched with brilliant pit-stop strategies and follow through by the mechanics. (Though it is not the most spectacular way to go, it is the fastest way to go.)
It’s often boasted that they have the technology to make the cars go around the circuit with out the drivers in them and that too with inch perfect accuracy and greater speeds (Saw that on Discovery channel once) But such racing wouldn’t be appealing to spectators. This is one reason they call the sport — the Formula1 circus many a times as it is also quite like show business with a lot of drama and other human angles thrown in. The use of technology to gain an advantage is the central idea behind the sport of course, it is the pinnacle of motor-sport at least for cars. That is why the name Formula1 meaning the best possible formula or combinations using cutting edge technology. But un-fair use of technology is what kills the spirit of the sport at times. ( un-fair as in anything outside of the rules set by FIA) The Mclaren-Ferrari episode which haunted the 2007 championship season is an example.
This is the reason the sport is tightly regulated in the use of electronics, computers and other technologies by the FIA which is the official body taking decisions on the sport. It is to Formula1 what ICC is to Cricket and FIFA is to Football/soccer.