The Force India VJM07 is a Formula One racing car designed by Force India to compete in the 2014 Formula One season.[1] It was driven by Nico Hülkenberg, who returned to the team after racing for Sauber in 2013, and Sergio Pérez, who joined the team after leaving McLaren.[2] [3] The VJM07 was designed to use Mercedes' new 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged engine,[4] the PU106A Hybrid as well as Petronas fuels.
A rendered image of the VJM07 was released on Twitter on 23 January, making it the first 2014 Formula One design to be revealed to public.[5]
At the, the car scored the team's greatest points haul from a single race as Pérez finished third (Force India's first podium in over four years) and Hülkenberg finished fifth. The team ultimately finished the season sixth in the Constructors' Championship.
The car performed very well in the early races with the team consistently scoring well. The team nearly got a podium in the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix but driver Sergio Pérez was involved in a huge crash with Williams' Felipe Massa 2 laps from the end. Due to the financial limitations of the team, the car could not be developed like the leading teams' cars and the pace dropped off towards the end of the season.
After Force India failed to get their new car, the Force India VJM08 ready in time for pre-season testing at the beginning of, the VJM07 was used at the second test in Barcelona, although in the 2015 livery.[6] This allowed the team to gain data on the new tyre compounds and degradation.
(key) (results in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | Grands Prix | Points | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | MAL | BHR | CHN | ESP | MON | CAN | AUT | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | RUS | USA | BRA | ABU‡ | ||||||||
| Sahara Force India F1 Team | Mercedes PU106A Hybrid | Sergio Pérez | 10 | DNS | 3 | 9 | 9 | Ret | 11† | 6 | 11 | 10 | Ret | 8 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 | Ret | 15 | 7 | 155 | 6th | |||
| Nico Hülkenberg | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | Ret | 10 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 12 | Ret | 8 | 6 | |||||||
| Source:[7] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||