The Sahara Force India F1 Team are disappointed to see the upgrade to their Mercedes-Benz power unit delayed until the Singapore Grand Prix, with only one of their drivers set to profit from it when it does arrive.
Initially the team and Williams Martini Racing were informed by Mercedes that they would see the update at the Belgian Grand Prix that was put on both of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team cars at Spa-Francorchamps, but both of the customer teams will now have to wait until Singapore for the update.
Force India’s technical director Andy Green says the delay in the introduction of the power unit is not ideal, especially as they missed out on it for two of the biggest power sensitive tracks on the calendar, but it is what it is, and they will have to work out which driver will get the upgrade in the next race.
“I think we’re confident that we’ll get to the end of the year without penalties, all things being equal,” said Green. “Are we happy that we’re one power unit less than the works team? No, we’re not. We’d rather be in their situation, to be honest.
“It’s a performance upgrade, and given that these were the two most power sensitive tracks during the season, these were the two races where we would have really liked it.
“One in Singapore is what we’re promised at the moment. We were originally told we would get it in Spa. There’s some disappointment, should we say.
“It’s always useful having more horsepower, that’s for sure, so it would have been nice to have had it at the two most power sensitive tracks that we go to.”
