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LOT 335 †

2015 Sahara Force India VJM08 Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater Chassis no. VJM08-02

Sold for £78,200 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 335†

The Ex-Sergio 'Checo' Pérez, Russian Grand Prix podium-placed
2015 Sahara Force India VJM08 Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater

2015 Sahara Force India VJM08 Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater
Chassis no. VJM08-02

Footnotes

Offered in show-car condition less engine and transmission.

The Mexican racing driver Sergio Pérez has really come to the fore in recent Formula 1 World Championship road racing and here BONHAMS is delighted to offer direct from works preservation and storage the car in which he really began to confirm his longtime promise during the 2015 season.

We understand that during the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship racing season, this Force India VJM08's racing career developed as follows, including as it does not only no fewer than twelve World Championship points-scoring finishes, amongst which are three fifth places, but also a hugely significant podium finish for driver and team in the year's Russian Grand Prix at Sochi:

Australian GP, Adelaide – Sergio Pérez – q.15th – 10th points scoring
Malaysian GP, Sepang – Sergio Pérez – q.14 – 13th
Chinese GP, Shanghai - Sergio Pérez – q. 15 – 11th
Bahrain GP, Sakhir - Sergio Pérez – q.11 – 8th points scoring
Spanish GP, Barcelona - Sergio Pérez – q.18 – 13th
Monaco GP, Monte Carlo - Sergio Pérez – q.7 – 7th points scoring
Canadian GP, Montreal - Sergio Pérez – q.10 – 11th
Austrian GP, Spielburg - Sergio Pérez – q.16 – 9th points scoring
British GP, Silverstone - Sergio Pérez – q. 11 – 9th points scoring
Hungarian GP, Hungaroring - Sergio Pérez – q. 13 – Rtd (brakes)
Belgian GP, Spa-Francorchamps - Sergio Pérez – q. 5 – 5th points scoring
Italian GP, Monza – Sergio Pérez - q.7 – 6th points scoring
Singapore GP, Marina Bay – Sergio Pérez - q.13 – 7th points scoring
Japanese GP, Suzuka – Sergio Pérez - q.9 – 12th
Russian GP, Sochi – Sergio Pérez – q.7 – 3rd points scoring/podium finish
United States GP, Austin – Sergio Pérez – q.6 – 5th points scoring
Mexican GP, Mexico City – Sergio Pérez – q.9 – 8th points scoring
Brazilian GP, Interlagos – Sergio Pérez – q.13 – 12th
Abu Dhabi GP, Yas Marina - Sergio Pérez – q.4 – 5th points scoring

'Checo' Pérez was at that time works team driver with the Sahara Force India F1 team, alongside as his team-mate the long-promising German Nico Hulkenberg. The Silverstone-based team, retaining many of the immensely-experienced specialists who had worked there for the previous team entities of Jordan, Midland and Spyker before Indian businessman and airline and brewery magnate Vijay Mallya had bought the organisation in 2007, had gained a reputation as being one of the most effective and resilient of all mid-field Formula 1 forces.

This certainly proved to be true during the 2015 season as Force India stepped up a place in the Formula 1 Constructors' Championship to finish fifth overall, its best finish ever, headed only by the relatively giant organisations of Mercedes-Benz-AMG, Ferrari, Williams Martini, and Red Bull Racing – and beating former Constructors' World Champions McLaren...

Given a difficult beginning to the season, resulting from an enforcedly late start to the car-build programme for cash-flow reasons, this was a terrific result which paid enormous tribute to the team personnel and the core engineering group's technical competence. In fact, under executive team principal Robert Fearnley, chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer and technical Director Andrew Green, Force India had experienced a season effectively of two halves.

The first eight Championship qualifying races were contested using the VJM08 which essentially was the 2014 car adapted to match new nose regulations for 2015, while from the British GP forward the VJM08B specification was introduced which had been developed (after that late start) in the Toyota wind tunnel at Cologne, Germany.

The team's previously-used wind tunnel in Brackley had accommodated 60 per cent full-size test models, whereas the Toyota tunnel had the volume to accommodate full size. Having missed pre-season testing, Force India began the season in the lower midfield of each race, despite which limitation in sheer performance still saw both drivers, Pérez and Hulkenberg, accumulating useful points finishes. The venues of Bahrain, Monaco, Montreal and Austria were well suited to the Mercedes-Benz-engined Force India VJM08's high power/low drag combination and it proved to be a regular fourth row qualifier. In contrast at circuits which proved more conventionally demanding of high downforce – such as Barcelona – the team cars qualified 17th/18th.

The VJM08 featured an ingenious solution to the problem of combining adequate airflow beneath the nose to the underbody surfaces without resorting to a then-fashionable short nose which posed difficulties in passing the FIA's required crash test. A distinctive 'nostril nose' allowed good airflow and easy crash test approval. The team could not afford multiple crash tests – which were totally destructive of the test pieces – and with this nose configuration they did well to avoid such problems.

With the B-specification aerodynamic package the VJM08 could comfortably qualify well and race very competitively on the high-speed late-season courses such as Spa-Francorchamps and Sochi. As 'Autocourse' observed at season's end: "The driver pairing gave the team a good band width, in that Pérez remained remarkably adept at eking out good stint lengths on the tyres at tracks where that was necessary, while the more aggressive Hulkenberg could hustle the car further up the grid at some places. In all this was a hugely satisfying season for a team of just 350 people and under financial pressure. As Andrew Green declared: "We set ourselves targets to beat teams we shouldn't beat and make them look a bit silly. When you achieve that, it sends a shiver down your back".

Today this Force India-Mercedes VJM08 is presented as a telling tribute to all who were involved in this giant-killing car's design, construction, preparation and competitive use, in addition to offering the collector/enthusiast world a perhaps mid-career car from that perennially high-performing Mexican racing driver, Sergio Michel 'Checo' Pérez Mendoza...

As is the case with Lot XX also offered here, this Force India team race-history Formula 1 car is presented in handsomely-prepared 'show car' form without engine and transmission amongst other detail mechanical and electrical components.

VAT will be charged at the prevailing rate on the Hammer Price and Buyer's Premium.

Saleroom notices

£70,000 - £100,000 Since going to press we have been able to confirm that chassis 'VJM08-02', for Sergio Pérez, competed in thirteen of the nineteen qualifying rounds comprising the 2015 Formula One season. Chassis 'O2 offered here scored points in no fewer than eight of those Grand Prix races while serving the lion's share of duties with the Force India team's number one driver.

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