Force India VJM006 Looks the Same but Upgraded Under the Skin

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had driver Paul di Resta reveal its new VJM006 at Silverstone today. On the outside, the car is nearly identical to the previous carForce India VJM05India, 2012 > 20127 photos
with the exception of a non-stepped nose. Team Principal Dr. Vijay Mallya says that the chassis has been significantly revised. 

"We discussed carrying over big chunks of last year’s car, including the chassis, but decided not to. There were still some gains to be had with the chassis, so we elected to take the performance benefits. The biggest change that everybody is going to notice this year is the fairing on top of the nose to hide the 'step'. It’s neutral as far as the car’s performance is concerned but tidies up the flow over the top of the chassis," said designer Andrew Green. 

The suspension has been changed to adapt to last year's tires. The team hopes that it gives the car better grip and lower tire degradation. The rear suspension is higher to give more airflow under the wishbones. 

Force India says that has a problem early last season where its team at the track could not keep up with the aerodynamic changes made to the car in terms of finding a good setup. For the last third of the season, the team says that it made absolutely no changes to the car. However, the team was still able to find speed using that constant setup. 

The team says that that VJM006 is a continued evolution of last year's car. It took the best of the changes that it had developed to last year's car plus its winter developments to create the 2013 car. 

Over the winter, the team invested in a better simulator and new carbon fiber production hardware. It is building a new wind tunnel now. 

Force India still has only one driver confirmed for the 2013 season. Mallya says that the team has considered every available driver and is very near signing its second driver.