New Force India-Update Makes Car 0.5 Seconds Faster

Force India's VJM11 is set to have a big update ahead of the Australian Grand Prix this weekend, which should make the car about half a second faster than it was up until this point.

The package of new components should help the team defend its position of being the 'best of the rest' - fourth place. The Indian outfit has been able to impressively finish behind the 'Big Three' for two years in a row now while operating on one of the smallest budgets in the sport. However, their place will be under more pressure than ever before in the coming season, with teams like McLaren and Renault making significant improvements in the off-season.

To help Force India keep its current position in the pecking order, the upgrade features little tweaks on the bodywork, like new barge boards and new wind conductors around the side pods.

"We're very optimistic," Sergio Perez said about the battle for fourth place this year. 

"We know it will be a tough battle because the teams that oppose us are very big teams."

"And there's also Haas, who surprised everyone during testing," the Mexican added after referring to McLaren and Renault.

"We're not as bad as you think, we have our reasons to be very optimistic."

His teammate Esteban Ocon nodded.

"Every time Force India introduce a new update, it really gives us a boost in performance."

"We'll see how good this one is, but our goal remains to make it to Q3 on Saturday and score points on Sunday."