Force India has become the final Formula 1 team to offer a first look at their 2018 car, revealing the VJM11 ahead of Day 1 of testing in Barcelona.
Speculation has been swirling around the Silverstone-based team in recent weeks with rumours of a name change for this season and talks taking place with Rich Energy, a British energy drinks company, over a possible takeover.
The team has denied the second claim, although for the launch no team branding was present on team gear or in the garage hinting there is still movement going on behind the scenes.
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On Monday, however, all that was put to one side with the unveiling of the second ‘pink panther’ which hopes to build on the great success on the track having finished fourth in the constructors’ championship each of the past two years.
The VJM11 will face a much stiffer task in repeating the success of its predecessor with Renault, McLaren, Williams and Toro Rosso all hoping to make strong progress in the midfield.
That puts more pressure on the highly talented line-up of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon to perform and avoid the tensions which flared up on several occasions in 2017, despite both scoring points at 16 of the 20 races.