2011 Force India The Ex-Paul di Resta/Nico Hülkenberg, 19-Grands Prix, World Championship points scoring
2011 Force India-Mercedes VJM-04 Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater
Chassis no. VJM04-02

During the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship season the tight-knit Force India team was one of the smaller equipes in competition but it was one – with the promising driving team of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil – plus the young Nico Hulkenberg just signed on as test and reserve driver - which punched consistently far above its apparent weight. As such it became a favourite with many Formula fans worldwide who loved to back an underdog against the infinitely better-funded, and more favoured, 'establishment' teams.

Force India's origins derived from the Jordan Grand Prix team, which had first entered Formula 1 racing in 1991. Their operation was based at Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire, England, and despite always struggling to make ends meet financially the Jordan operation won four Grand Prix races and took third place in the 1999 Formula 1 Constructors' Championship. Eventually the financial strains became too great to remain on Formula 1's competitive tightrope, and early in 2005 owner Eddie Jordan sold the team to Russian-derived Canadian Alex Shnaider's Midland Group.

As Midland F1 Racing the team struggled and was soon acquired by Dutch interests to become Spyker F1 from mid-2006, scoring a World Championship point in 2007 before being resold to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, contemporary chairman of the United Breweries Group – famous for its Kingfisher brand beer - and existing Dutch director Michiel Mol. The Force India title was adopted for 2008 and team principal Colin Kolles and technical director Mike Gascoyne led their resurgent operation.

Following an unsuccessful run of 29 races without scoring a World Championship point, Force India made its breakthrough at the 2009 Belgian GP with driver Giancarlo Fisichella finishing second!

The team survived as extremely capable midfield competitors into 2017 when it was acquired by a consortium of investors headed by Lawrence Stroll, Canadian head of Sportswear Holdings and father of aspiring driver Lance Stroll. The company was restyled as Racing Point UK, and after successful seasons 2018-2020 the team was again re-titled for 2021 and has brought the Aston Martin brand name back into Formula 1 racing for the first time since 1960 – another consortium headed by Lawrence Stroll having taken control of the legendary Aston Martin marque itself in 2020.

The 2011-season Force India VJM04 – chassis '02' – now offered here has been retained by the Silverstone-based team ever since they built and campaigned it originally through that entire Formula 1 World Championship season. This is not just a team car, it is in fact one of the most-raced single-season Formula 1 chassis ever to be offered for public sale.

During its frenetic season of 2011 it competed in all 19 World Championship Grand Prix races, and it scored points (by finishing within the top ten positions) in no fewer than eight of them, a success rate of 42 per cent. Very few perfectly genuine Formula 1 cars from this era command such a pedigree. The car is offered in assembled rolling-chassis, showcar configuration less the relevant 2.4-litre Mercedes-Benz FO108Y 90-degree V8-cylinder engine and 7-speed gearbox which it used in action.

Force India-Mercedes VMJ04 chassis '02' TEST AND RACING RECORD
Pre-season 2011 Formula 1 Testing 'T8' Barcelona, Spain – Paul di Resta x 497 kms
Pre-season 2011 Formula 1 Testing 'T9' Barcelona, Spain – Paul di Resta x 781 kms
Australian GP, Melbourne – First Practice – Nico Hulkenberg x 106 (FP1)
Australian GP, Melbourne – Practice and Race – Paul di Resta x 663 kms
Qualified 14th – finished 10th

Malaysian GP, Sepang – Practice 1, 2 & 3 – Nico Hulkenberg x 128 kms
Malaysian GP, Sepang – Practice & Race – Paul di Resta x 634 kms
Qualified 14th – finished 10th

Chinese GP, Shanghai Paul di Resta x 628 kms
Qualified 8th – finished 11th

Turkish GP, Istanbul Paul di Resta x 663 kms
Qualified 13th – Did not finish (loose wheel)

Spanish GP, Barcelona Practice 1 – Nico Hulkenberg x 122 (FP1)
Spanish GP, Barcelona Practice & Race – Paul di Resta x 626 kms
Qualified 16th – finished 12th

Monaco GP, Monte Carlo Paul di Resta x 571 kms
Qualified 14th – finished 12th

Canadian GP, Montreal Paul di Resta x 726 kms
Qualified 11th – classified 18th after accident

European GP, Valencia Practice 1 – Nico Hulkenberg x 38 kms
European GP, Valencia Paul di Resta x 545 kms
Qualified 12th – finished 14th

British GP, Silverstone Paul di Resta x 679 kms
Qualified 6th – finished 15th

German GP, Hockenheim Practice 1 – Nico Hulkenberg x 133 kms
German GP, Hockenheim Paul di Resta x 668 kms
Qualified 12th – finished 13th

Hungarian GP, Budapest Practice 1 Nico Hulkenberg
Hungarian GP, Budapest Paul di Resta x 721 kms
Qualified 11th – finished 7th

Belgian GP, Spa Paul di Resta x 588 kms
Qualified 18th – finished 11th

Italian GP, Monza Practice 1 Nico Hulkenberg 122kms
Italian GP, Monza Paul di Resta x 742 kms
Qualified 11th – finished 8th

Singapore GP, Marina Bay Paul di Resta x 586 kms
Qualified 10th – finished 6th

Japanese GP, Suzuka Paul di Resta x 790 kms
Qualified 12th – finished 12th

Korean GP, Yeongam Paul di Resta x 779 kms
Qualified 9th – finished 10th

Indian GP, Buddh Paul di Resta x 787 kms
Qualified 13th – finished 13th

Abu Dhabi GP, Yas Marina Paul di Resta x 873 kms
Qualified 10th – finished 9th

Brazilian GP, Sao Paulo Paul di Resta x 804 kms
Qualified 11th – finished 8th

The Silverstone-based organisation's 2011 season was impressive despite drivers Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil not having repeated the podium positions achieved in 2009. Force India's latest VJM04-series cars battled on close terms with Mercedes-Benz and Renault and through the second half of the season particularly the team's development work was substantial, and their form improved rapidly.

In fact Force India that year did so much work that the team became a threat to Renault. The VJM04 such as this chassis offered here was a worthy descendant of the previous year's design, from which it retained such features as the underside nose hump, brake calipers overhanging ahead of the front axle and the general architecture of the car's configuration, despite the team using a KERS kinetic-energy recovery system for the first time. The Mercedes-Benz V8 engine, gearbox and KERS systems were all identical to those being supplied to the rival McLaren team and for that reason Force India's cars had the second longest wheelbase of all contemporary Formula 1 cars apart from the McLaren MP4-26.

A substantial wind tunnel programme run by the team under Andy Green used CFD – computational fluid dynamics – programming and the Force India VJM04 was one of just two 2011 designs to use a knife-edge roll-over bar and a divided roll-hoop engine inlet to enhance airflow onto the rear wing. Once the double underfloor diffuser feature adopted by several teams had been banned by the FIA, airflow onto the rear wing had become even more important in determining overall download.

A Red Bull-type exhaust-blown diffuser surface was adopted on the Force India cars during Friday practice for the year's Spanish GP, but the feature was not raced until the British event at Silverstone, where it emerged in company with new-concept sidepods, engine cover and diffuser, creating in effect a 'VJM04B' model. Paul di Resta immediately drove this car – chassis '02' – to qualify in an excellent sixth place overall, on row 3 of the starting grid.

New rear suspension was adopted at the subsequent Hungarian GP, the car running with increased rake, its rear end riding a centimetre or so higher than the front. Like their counterparts at McLaren, the Force India cars often ran asymmetric front brake air ducts, in part to provide different operating temperatures within each front tyre. After multiple tiny tweaks and improvements towards the end of the season, the Force India team took what was really an admirable sixth place overall in the 2011 Formula 1 Constructors' World Championship competition – pressing hard right behind the top manufacturers' teams.

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