After making it to Formula 1 through the purchase of the financially troubled Spyker team, Force India didn’t exactly sizzle in their debut year. Like some of the other teams that have recently come about, Spyker (as it was previously known) was a result of a buyout of Midland F1. So technically, the team has been in existence since 1991 (as Jordan), but in its new orange and silver livery and under the Spyker name, 2007 was their debut season. As Force India, the team has undergone more changes and now sports the green, orange and white of India’s national flag.

Under the leadership of the flamboyant liquor baron Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India has been responsible for creating greater interest and awareness of F1 in India. But beyond this, they haven’t shown much on the track. Struggling to complete races, the team was the only one (apart from the Super Aguri who pulled out) not to score a point. For 2009, that must be the first target.

In 2009, Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil managed to only bag thirteen points to finish ninth overall in the Constructors Championship. The second position finish for Fisichella in Belgium was quite a moment for Force India and Adrian Sutil finished with a fourth position in Italy. Post European GP, Fisichella went on to replace Luca Badoer in Ferrari and handed his seat at Force India F1 to Vitantonio Liuzzi.

With Vitantonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil as the drivers, there is a good mix of experience and youth but the car is not suited to help either. And this is the biggest challenge. Dr Mallya has assured the team of all necessary financial resources but that can only take a team so far. What the team needs is a principal who can deliver.

Spyker history:

Rumours of Midland’s sale were doing the rounds for a while, but it was confirmed only in September 2006 that Spyker had bought out the team for a little over $106 million. But they did not set about making too many changes and retained both Midland drivers, Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro for the 2006 season (from September to the conclusion). Mike Gascoyne has been recruited as the Chief Technology Officer for the team while Colin Kolles will be the team boss.

Some of the changes by Spyker include dumping Toyota engines in favour of Ferrari ones and flying under the Dutch flag since Spyker Cars is a Dutch company. For the upcoming season, Spyker will employ Albers along with Adrian Sutil as the main drivers.

Spyker are realistic about their chances and being part of a new team means there are many challenges to surmount. Gascoyne is an experienced hand and he has set out the short-term goals clearly. “Our aspirations are to start scoring points, and nick the odd podium when there’s a race once or twice a year where everything gets mixed up,” he says. It’s good to know where you stand and not make irresponsible proclamations about your chances!

It is also reassuring to hear that Spyker are not shy of spending time and effort in addition to money in ensuring they have a strong foundation. “What’s important is no matter how much money you put into building the house, if you don’t dig the foundations properly, it falls down,” Gascoyne said.

One could easily expect the team to be among the backmarkers through the initial races. But it’s how fast they can move up and how consistently they stay there that will prove whether they belong here or not.