Force India

52°04′33″N 1°01′46″W / 52.07583°N 1.02944°W / 52.07583; -1.02944

Force India Formula One Team Limited, commonly known as Force India and later Sahara Force India, was a Formula One racing team and constructor based in Silverstone, United Kingdom, with an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Dutch businessman Michiel Mol bought the Spyker F1 team for €88 million.

After going through 29 races without scoring points, Force India won their first Formula One world championship points and podium place when Giancarlo Fisichella finished second in the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. Force India scored points again in the following race when Adrian Sutil finished fourth, and set the team's first fastest lap, at the Italian Grand Prix. The team's other podium finishes are five third-places, in the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, 2015 Russian Grand Prix, 2016 Monaco Grand Prix, 2016 European Grand Prix and the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, all achieved by Sergio Pérez.

In October 2011, Indian company Sahara India Pariwar, purchased 42.5% of Force India F1's shares at US$100 million.

In 2018, Vijay Mallya, accused of fraud and defaulting on loans, could not afford to continue to run Force India. By July 2018, ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the team announced that they had been put into administration by the High Court in London. The team's assets were bought by a consortium of investors, named Racing Point UK, led by Lawrence Stroll, the father of then Williams driver Lance Stroll. The consortium used the assets to create a new entry into the sport named Racing Point Force India. The constructor that had been founded in 2008 ceased to exist prior to the 2019 Australian Grand Prix when the new team changed their constructor entry to "Racing Point".

The team's origins stemmed from the Jordan Grand Prix team, which entered Formula One racing in 1991 based at the Silverstone circuit. Jordan enjoyed many years in Formula One, winning four races and achieving third place in the 1999 Constructors' Championship. However, like many of the smaller teams in the 2000s, financial problems meant the team's performance dried up, and team owner Eddie Jordan sold the team to the Midland Group in early 2005.

The Midland owned team renamed Midland F1 Racing in 2006 spent two seasons at the back of grid, before owner Alex Shnaider sold the team to Spyker Cars midway through the 2006 season.

Spyker F1 scored a point in 2007 and briefly led the European Grand Prix; despite this, the team once again hit financing issues, and was sold on to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, then chairman of the United Breweries Group and Michiel Mol, Spyker's Formula One Director. The team, bought for €88 million, was renamed as the Force India Formula One Team for the 2008 season, and retained team principal Colin Kolles, Chief Technology Officer Mike Gascoyne, and drivers were Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella.