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Close up, placed under the spotlight, the VJM09 is a sleek, refined machine, with its unique slotted nose and tight rear packaging. It's quick, too. This year, Force India vied with Williams to have the fourth-fastest car in F1. Fourth. That's an impressive vault up the grid from the team's humble beginning. In 2008, its first year under the ownership of Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya, Force India languished at the bottom of the constructors' championship, points-free.
Over the following eight seasons, it has risen to snap at the heels of F1's biggest teams. So how has it made such progress on a budget little more than a third of that of the big three ahead - Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari?
The secret is that only a third of the VJM09 is made in the tiny Silverstone factory. Everything else - windtunnel research, the drivetrain, electronics, monocoque, engine cover, sidepods, floor and hydraulics - is outsourced. It makes the team the most cost-effective operation in F1, but reaching this peak of efficiency is the fulfilment of a project many years in the making.
