Topic

Motorsport.com's Prime content

The car that truly kick-started F1's favourite giantkiller

Prime

Formula 1 Special feature

The car that truly kick-started F1's favourite giantkiller

By:

Jake Boxall-Legge

Jun 5, 2019, 12:08 PM

A strategic alliance with McLaren was the key to Force India's first step on the road from Formula 1 mediocrity to midfield powerhouse.

Subscribe to PRIME Sign in

Never mind the financial woes the team now known as Racing Point went through in the past couple of seasons before its purchase by Lawrence Stroll's consortium. Vijay Mallya's late-2007 takeover alleviated an even more turbulent period for the team in which it changed hands thrice in three years - having run as Jordan until 2005, then Midland, then Spyker.

Over the following 10 years, the team transcended its precarious financial situation to consistently bother the scorers, and occasionally annexe podium places - a far cry from the tail-ender role it had previously occupied. But the process took time.

Jake Boxall-Legge

Twitter

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.