Force India to miss opening test in Jerez this weekend

It was announced this morning that the Force India team has confirmed it will miss the opening test of the season in Jerez altogether as it sets its sights on the remaining two tests in Barcelona for its 2015 debut.

The team had planned to run the 2014 car in Jerez as it continued to develop the new VJM08 for its debut in Barcelona, but just four days before the opening test gets underway it revealed it would take no part in the running whatsoever.

The team launched its new livery in Mexico last week along with its interpretation of the 2015 nose regulations, but the fully developed car will not run until February 19. In recent years several teams have opted to skip the first test in order to continue development, although it was common for them to run the previous year’s car at the opening test to gather data on the latest generation of tyres and trial new parts.

After hearing this news this morning, you could argue that this could be of two things. Firstly, I believe it could be that they want to continue development on this year's car in order to get themselves in the best possible position that they can be in. That is very understandable but this also puts them on the back foot in regards to how much they can learn about the new car which puts them at a disadvantage over their rivals.

But let us not forget that Lotus did the same thing last season and even though that gamble didn't pay off for them in the long run, things could go that way for Force India or they might not. But at the end of the day, the team have more data available to them to make this decision and we have to respect their decision.

Secondly, I believe that it could be that the team may not have the funds to run at the first test which has been speculating around the paddock this week. Even though Force India haven't answered this speculation, the chance of this being the case would be extremely unlikely as Force India do the best with what they can with their budget and manage to build a consistent and reliable car that they keep on improving year on year.

But I do firmly believe that they just want more time developing their car just like Lotus did last season with the E22 in order to try and learn more about the car before being unleashed on the track. But overall, many pundits and fans have been slightly surprised with Force India missing the first test in Jerez for whatever reason it might be; even though I believe that they have taken this decision for the purpose of getting themselves in a competitive way for the season ahead with a full understanding of their car.

But for me, it is clear that Force India believe they can gain more by taking the time to develop and improve the car more ready for the second pre-season tests in Barcelona at the end of the month. But will this decision pay off for Force India this season? We shall have to wait and see but I really hope that this only benefits the team rather than hinders them.

Sarah Jones