Force India "supremely confident" for 2010
Harlow said there are unprecedented levels of confidence in the Force India camp heading into 2010
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Wednesday, 20, Jan 2010 11:26
By Adam Leveridge
Force India's chief race engineer Dominic Harlow has said there are unprecedented levels of confidence in the team's Silverstone factory ahead of the 2010 season.
Earlier in the week, Adrian Sutil said he expects Force India to be strong this year because they will avoid the disruption that comes with the arrival of new drivers, a new engine supplier and updated sporting regulations, which are aimed at streamlining F1 by reducing costs and headcounts.
These sentiments have been echoed by Harlow, who says the team's continuity heading into next season has plied the team with a positive attitude and big ambitions.
"I can't remember a better winter build period for the team in the time since I've been here," said Harlow.
"It's been good in terms of continuity, the general feeling, and the aims and the goals that we are setting ourselves.
"But underlying that there's just a confidence that if we carry on what we're doing and believe in each other, then we will deliver.
"And unlike some other teams we're not scratching around trying to put together a car at the last minute."
The consistency within the Force India camp has allowed the team to begin preparations for 2010 much earlier than in previous years. However, Harlow says the tweaks made to the regulations have created a number of uncertainties.
"We have a narrower front tyre, but the tyres generally always change and are a little bit of an unknown - we'll be interested to find out about them when we go testing," said Harlow.
"The deletion of spinners, or wheel discs, also has a big impact."
He continued: "We were pretty systematic. We looked at everything we could think of that affects fuel consumption and came up with a prediction based on the worst circuit in terms of fuel use, which is now Valencia.
"Then you have some design factors to include, such as the way a calculated fuel tank size never quite becomes a manufactured one - it's a slightly inexact science."
Harlow admits that while the team is feeling confident, there is still a lot of work left to do before the VJM03 makes it debut at the second winter test of the year in Jerez.
"It's quite a big unexplored area, and there's still a lot of modelling for the fuel consumption and the tyres that we still need to do," said Harlow.
"Depending on where we're racing, I think people are going to be a bit more cagey at the start of the race.
"It will help the fastest learners and for us it's where the continuity and the relative experience of our guys is going to favour us."