Force India turns pink with new sponsorship deal

2017 F1 season

Posted on

| Written by

Force India has revealed a bright new pink livery after signing a new deal with Austrian water technology firm Best Water Technology.

The VJM10 will sport a matte pink finish from the first race of the 2017 instead of the silver colour scheme it was launched in. The team also confirmed their drivers will switch to using pink crash helmets.

“The arrival of BWT in Formula One is huge news and represents one of the most significant partnerships in our ten year history,” said team co-owner Vijay Mallya.

“It’s a sign of how far we have come as a team with our strong results and completes a solid commercial performance over the winter.”

“For 2017 our cars will sport a vibrant new colour scheme with a smart matte finish. Changing the colour of our cars is an indication of the strength of this new partnership and a real statement of intent from BWT as they begin their relationship with the sport of Formula One.”

2017 F1 season

Browse all 2017 F1 season articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

289 comments on “Force India turns pink with new sponsorship deal”

  1. Now that’s interesting!

    1. ExcitedAbout17
      14th March 2017, 12:25

      That now leaves only one boring car on the grid: Haas.
      Mercedes looks somewhat ‘boring’ as well, but they can use the Silver Arrow heritage argument.

      1. Glad there’s someone else who finds the Haas livery utterly dull. I seemed to be one of the only ones. Many quite liked it!

        I like the small new addition of the neon on the Merc, but other than that, it’s totally what I was expecting. I’d love to see them ditch the cyan, but until they fall out with Petronas, that won’t happen.

        1. Agreed. if you’re the ‘Merican team you should wear it loud and proud! Red, white, and blue. The car should look like Captain America vomited on it.

          1. You mean the Toro Rosso? That’s something I cannot understand why people like that livery. It looks like a crushed Red Bull Cola can.

          2. But it’s not Team USA, it’s the Haas brand. If it would be Team USA they would have went for an American driver as well, but that’s not their job.

          3. @addvariety If the Red Bull marketing folks are to be believed, that is exactly the point.

          4. @geemac Read my comment again, especially the word “crushed”. ;)

        2. @ecwdanselby it’s not just dull, it’s horrible. And that bit they did on the fin has nothing to do with the rest of the car, it’s like they glued some Audi WEC stickers just there.

          But they also sport very dull liveries in NASCAR, and that’s a motorsport series that has great variation in livery designs. So I doubt we’ll see much variation in their F1 team. Haas, after all, builds CNC machine tools, and their cars look as boring as their machines :P

        3. @ecwdanselby I hate the Haas livery as well :)

      2. MartinE Racing
        14th March 2017, 16:44

        The Haas is the only challenger NOT covered wing to wing in tacky sponsor logos and that is why it’s one of my favorites. “No vulgar ads for cigarettes or condoms” I believe it went.

        1. +1 for simple

        2. There’s got to be a joke about condom sponsorship and helmets somewhere in there.

          But seriously, more sponsors = more money for teams. Give me logos end to end and forget the aesthetics.

      3. +1. Very happy

      4. Agree on Silver Arrow heritage,but that ghastly petronas green that ruined it

    2. knoxploration
      14th March 2017, 16:18

      Absolutely hideous. It looks like a stick of bubble gum with some crooked logos on it. If I were one of the other sponsors, I’d be looking at my contract to see if I could jump teams.

    3. +1 very very happy to see such a different colour out there — woop

    4. A pretty flamingo.

      1. @ferrox-glideh,
        “When they drive by they’ll brighten up the neighbourhood”. Showing our age here.

        1. @hohum
          Manfred Man is actually a bit before my time, but I’m hip! ;)

  2. I am sorry for asking for more color combos in the track. FI, please go back to your previous livery.

    Regards,

    An F1 fan.

    1. What’s wrong with pink? This is amazing! Best Livery I’ve ever seen I think, It’s really well done with the curves, looks sexy.

      Makes me not even care about the bump nose and alien nostrils. Great job FI

      1. Yep.. love it.. good decision force india.

    2. Pink is the new green. Are you going to sponsor them?

    3. Why? Don’t you like awesome looking liveries?

    4. @evered7 You know, I asked the same thing. However, of all the possible colour schemes I could come up with (I looked for inspiration in other classes as well), not once did pink come to mind. But it works! It may not be the best livery in terms of being cool, awesome, agressive or something along those lines, but it’s different and it doesn’t look hideous at all. Better this than having an F1 field that copies the most popular company car colour schemes.

    5. @evered7 Each to his own of course but I suppose the vast majority here including myself won’t agree

    6. @montreal95 @addvariety @ho3n3r I once saw a pink Cadillac SUV. The thought has been etched in my mind ever since.

      I just don’t think these light shades look good on a vehicle. On a dress, on a beautiful lady, sure! But not on a piece of metal :)

      Anyway, just my opinion. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

      1. @evered7 I’d prefer a different more vibrant shade of pink. However, even this is miles better than the testing livery of FI, which, coupled with the ugliest shark fin and nose in the paddock, has created one of the ugliest cars in the history of F1! again, that’s only mine, and in this case the majority opinion

        1. Paint courtesy by Pepto-Bismol

  3. i do not care about colour. i am just glad that they will get more money. dont spend it on candys FI!

    1. My fingers crossed, they need money after hearing the news that they have problems with the design.

      1. They had a component weight problem they couldn’t resolve ahead of testing – I think they confirmed the car will be fine come Australia.

  4. Nice! that’s an unique livery right there! we’ll remember this one in the years to come i’m sure, regardless of how much we like it.

    1. exactly

      it is certainly better than what they had before

    2. That’s a future retro F1 car!

      1. Exactly, at least more variety! However, they could have used a flashier pink. But hey, I will not complain! The liveries this year are much more varied than in the previous 15 years! Now I hope someone try to emulate a 1987 Benetton Livery! How cool would be that?

        1. Probably looks better out in the sun!

          1. Have you seen the BWT sponsored Mercedes DTM cars? They can look white in the sun. The matt surface might make the FI look a bit darker but not by that much.

          2. I think it looks good BTW.

  5. Also a great sign that a team like Force India manages to sign a title sponsor, Sahara already significantly invested as is Diageo. No excuses now @McLaren

    1. ExcitedAbout17
      14th March 2017, 12:27

      No excuses now @McLaren

      That’s why FI painted the McLaren Swoosh on their fin.

    2. @hahostolze +1 to that. With the parent companies and CEOs of both Sahara and Kingfisher embroiled in financial scams in India, I was always worried that Force India might be affected. So its really nice to see a title sponsor in here.

      The colour scheme… hmm. I’m not against pink, but I would have preferred more dark pink on it, and a more aggressive design and colour combination, rather than the billboard-like pastel pink.

  6. I’m not a fan of pink in general but I dont dislike this.

  7. What even is that

    1. My thoughts exactly. It looks like some pre-teen hello kitty car. To me, it almost mocks F1 racing as a whole. I’m absolutely appalled at how fans are liking it.

      1. @todfod Seriously? It”s a colour, dude, get over yourself

        1. @smartez
          Just saying that there has been a lot of debate and regulation changes to make F1 cars look mean, cool and edgy again. Then comes along a car in baby pink…. almost like it doesn’t want to be taken seriously.

      2. Totally agree

        1. Totally agree with todford

      3. Agreed todford, but then again we are in a period of history when legislation is being passed to force men to sit down to pee, to keep legs closed together on public transport, and arresting people if they look too muscular. Should not be surprised if girly pink is extremely popular among millennial “men” who grow up with anti-masculine indoctrination.

  8. I thinkt it is great, though a more vibrant pinl would be greater. It is a welcome innovation. Let’s just put one (or two) girls in the cockpits as well.

    1. Pink and girls …. You know that not so long ago it was the exact opposite? Pink was for male babies and blue for females. But restricting women to a color is reducing. Like girls have to play with barbies and boys with cars .. A bit archaic if you ask me ;)
      But I’d welcome a more vibrant pink too!

      1. I’m not reducing girls to a colour. Just thought it woul be a welcome sight an all female team in F1.
        By the way, when all these gender specifcs had gone, and boys and girls are exactely equal, people like you will start bothering about the lack of them. It is always the same.

        1. Carl Benjamin
          15th March 2017, 9:40

          It is a well-known fact that motorsport is a very physically-demanding activity, and this favours the male physique over the female, as upper body strength is emphasised here. This is not to say that women should not be in the sport – far from it – but that there is a simple biological reason, and it is nothing to do with sexism etc. Also, enforcing a “token” system to force women into F1 would be unwise, and would remove any sense of meritocracy or achievement for women who *do* make it good.

    2. +1 to the more vibrant pink. Pastel pink doesn’t carry any aggression.

      It would have been neat if Force India had gone for a scheme like this: http://hdblackwallpaper.com/wallpaper/2015/07/hot-pink-and-black-cars-6-cool-wallpaper.jpg

      1. @phylyp Oh come on, might just as well have another black car to moan about then(referring to the link).

    3. It would be a huge step backwards and incredibly sexist if we started putting people in cars purely based on their genitalia. Give women more opportunities to get involved in karting and then let the talent rise through the ranks. If a female gets to the point of winning a GP2 championship then let her have a seat in F1. Putting unqualified women in F1 race cars is dangerous and stupid.

  9. Now thats better

  10. Well I’m not going to confuse that with a Mercedes any more…

    1. Are we going to call it the “Pink Panther” now? ;-)

    2. @keithcollantine Only color problem left is Renault and McLaren. Either the Renault car is fully dipped into yellow or the black of the McLaren goes white!

      1. @spoutnik I like the Renault as it is. Yellow+black look mean. Just as a race car should be.

        1. @montreal95 indeed! The Renault is my favourite livery. It is gorgeous. I’m slightly disappointed by the McLaren one because I was hoping a red and white livery. In the end I’m glad they went orange because seeing a red and white loosing would be saddening. But at least they should have gone full orange.

          1. It was only about the fact the two are too close and I already made mistakes more than once.

    3. Best pink race car ever: http://teamspeed.com/uploads/articles/pink-pig_slider.jpg

      Long live the Pink Pig!

    4. @keithcollantine Wait, what’s a Brabham doing on the….oh, it’s a Force India.

      1. @davidnotcoulthard Oh yeah the last ever Brabham from 1992. Of course! I was trying to remember what this livery reminds me of, and it’s this. Thanks!

  11. Is this an early April Fools?!

    1. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
      14th March 2017, 12:41

      My first thought also!

  12. Now we find out if everyone whinging about lack of colour on the grid are ever satisfied…

    1. Be careful what you wish for you might just get it.

      They will be like 2 flying salmons.

  13. I love it, the original was bland at best, this will stand out and the sharkfin looks good with those lines on it.

    1. its the best looking shark fin indeed ;)

    2. I agree @bazzek, @seth-space hugely improved livery, adding some colour (yes a more vibrant tone would have been preferred) instead of a boring grey/silver

  14. Aha….ahaha…..BWAAAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAAAA!!!

    Oh man *wipes tears away*

    No seriously, this is a joke, right?

    1. Why would it be joke.. cars cant be pink?

  15. I love it. People are afraid of pink stigma, it’s unique and it adds colour to the field. The other livery was pretty awful and silver is always around. This is great.

    1. I’m fine with a pink car, but this baby pink with dark black looks ugly, unappealing and the exact opposite of the look F1 is going for.

  16. Also I love the fact their press release includes the phrase “precious elixir of life”:

    The Best Water Technology Group (BWT) is Europe‘s leading water technology company. BWT’s 3,300 employees aim to supply private, industrial, business, hotel and public sector customers with innovative, economical and ecological technologies that guarantee maximum safety, hygiene and health in the daily use of water – the precious elixir of life.

    1. And I thought I’d only get to read that phrase on Sims 2 websites…

    2. ExcitedAbout17
      14th March 2017, 13:47

      Then you love BWT’s sponsoring guidelines even better:

      Sponsoring guidelines
      BWT also remains faithful to the topic of water during sponsoring!
      – We therefore prefer to support water related projects, such as:
      Sports that have a relation to water, such as rowing or kayaking.
      – environmental projects that help to maintain water quality.
      – projects that enable people in need to access clean, hygienically clean water, such as wells in the poorest regions of the world with poor water quality.
      (translated from German

      Perfect fit with F1: the most pre-eminent water related, environmental project, for the poorest regions :p

      1. Maybe they’ll start pushing for hydrogen power in the next PU spec.

      2. You don’t get it? do you?

        FI’s major sponsors are UB and King Fishers. Both are liquors manufacturer. So for mixing perfect combination other than soda is water. That is the funda for the new pink partnership ;)

        1. That is a very good point Luffy. So it could be this is tied to BWT making a deal with the breweries to install new water cleaning installations etc. That makes sense

      3. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe won’t like that

      4. Perhaps they are going to push for artificial sprinklers (for extra water) and push for Grands Prix in less wealthy countries (with the idea of boosting local economies)? Or maybe they can see a repurposing of DRS in a water management project?

      5. LoL. Good catch!

    3. It’s the precious elixir of racing as well! Always livens up a Grand Prix. It’s just test and practice sessions when adding water doesn’t work.

      The car really looks great. It’s what McLaren should have done with the orange. Now I see why their launch livery was so half-bottomed.

    4. I always thought “precious elixir of life” was coffee, then beer @keithcollantine

  17. I don’t mind the pink, it’s the awful design of the BWT logo that ruins that livery! Ooooo, it’s terrible.

    1. My thoughts exactly. Pink can be very smart but this blue bubbly bwt…

      1. Same here. I can hear the boss asking “make my logo bigger” behind the designer.

        1. @lubhz Hahaha I can relate!

        2. Good observation @john-h, @tango,lubhz, I quite agree with that

    2. Agree.. totally

  18. Look past the colour and you can see a very smart livery. Its certainly an improvement. I like it. Well done to Force India for getting a title sponsor too.

  19. Pink with a front appendage. Splendid.

    1. I came here to make such a comment, but I can’t beat yours. Splendid.

  20. Nice to have more variety, but this livery is in my opinion pretty hideous. It looks like a car that has been skinned like an animal. Their silver livery was one of my favorite on the grid.

  21. What on good Gods earth is that?? Looks like a lizard.
    Wouldn’t blue be a better color considering the new sponsor is related to water.

  22. I like it. It could bring a whole new girl fanbase as well.

    1. Well yeah.. but pink F1 car doesn’t sound right somehow. I am not saying its looks horrible but it doesn’t look good either.

      1. “pink F1 car doesn’t sound right somehow” that has no sense! Why would a color not be suitable?

        1. Its a personal thing isn’t it. I hadn’t seen a pink F1 car as yet, so this is something strangely new to me.
          My statement doesn’t make sense to you probably because you, and more importantly Force India likes the color and hence we have a pink car.
          May be after a few races I will come to terms with it.

          1. There were pink F1 cars in the past though @Kash

      2. Shaun Robinson (@)
        14th March 2017, 14:52

        Not only you I think. Notice how VJ doesn’t use the word ‘pink’ at all? He uses ‘vibrant’ and words to that effect but no pink…

  23. Now the other drivers have to let they pass

  24. Oh man, now we’re going to identify them from far afar. I’m waiting for the all pink overalls. That should be a sight to behold. Good on them for the new sponsor… Now i get why their testing livery seemed half baked at best

    1. But on a aside, how impossible is this but logo to incorporate in a strict racy livery ?

      1. I quite like that though. Reminds me of some 90s cars that also didn’t look racy at all. Like it’s taking itself less serious.

        1. Heh, that is an intersting point @hahostolze, makes mee feel a lot better about that big bubly blue logo there!

      2. I quite like that though. Reminds me of some 90s cars that also didn’t look racy at all. Like it’s taking itself less serious.

  25. After stories that the Force India was overweight, they decided to shed their expensive chrome skin and go naked.

    1. Lol..thats the funniest statement I read today. And seems pretty apt too.
      Go Full-Monty and go fast. Thats the mantra.

  26. Hakk the Rack
    14th March 2017, 12:28

    Well, from all pink I’ll choose Pink Floyd.

    1. The team is just fantastic, this is really what I think, oh by the way, which one’s pink?

  27. The only other instance of pink I can think of at all in any previous F1 car is on Jacques Villeneuve’s helmet design.

    Otherwsie this is pretty fresh!

    1. @gitanes Pedro Lamy also had a blue/pink helmet. Actually it would marry this FI perfectly, bring the guy back

    2. And Jenson in tribute to his Dad a few years ago.

    3. don’t forget JB helmet as well

    4. and Brabham, early 90s

    5. Benetton’s “United Colours” liveries had a bit of pink in them for a while.

    6. I guess the Moneytron Onyx had a pink stripe too

    7. @gitanes Early 90’s Brabham was half pink half sky blue

  28. Well then… Girlfrieeeeeeend

  29. This can’t be true, were in March. All I can say is Hulkenberg left just in time to escape wearing a pink suit.

    1. Hahaaa .. agree ..

  30. 2011 Sauber left in the wash with a red t-shirt?

  31. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
    14th March 2017, 12:41

    After seeing all those super macho comments before, I can’t care less if it looks “girlish” or not. It’s a good livery and it means more cash. What can be better?

    1. @omarr-pepper Absolutely. A shame it is in so many comments! Quite archaic if you ask me. As I said above not so long ago blue was for female babies and pink for boys …
      All in all good recognizable livery!

      1. All i can think of is the brand manager getting a bonus this year.

        All the talk, all the new people exposed to the brand!

    2. Exactly!

    1. Is that an ad I see in that screenshot, @keithcollantine? You should start donating £1/month to yourself!

    2. Shaun Robinson (@)
      14th March 2017, 14:55

      Haha. I dare you!

    3. Do it if they win a race.

      1. Good idea. Do it for all teams: now that the teams all have different colours, @keithcollantine could set the theme background colour based on who is in the news:

        Mercedes Silver
        Red Bull (Matte) Dark Blue
        Ferrari Red
        Force India Pink
        Williams White
        McLaren Orange
        Toro Rosso (Metallic) Bright Blue
        Haas Grey
        Renault Yellow
        Sauber Royal Blue

        Might have to use a different heading text colour for Williams :)

    4. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      15th March 2017, 5:16

      Awesome +1 so much fun today in F1!!!

  32. When are they going to show this on track? I will give proper judgement then.

    It looks clever, and pink is just a colour. I’m curious to see what they are going to do with that nose

  33. This (BWT) is a company with $19 million of EBIT on $660 million of revenue in 2016. They can’t be paying much for this sponsorship.

    1. Do they have a parent company ?

  34. I want to see Porsche’s old ‘Pink Pig’ livery in this. But all I’m seeing is Pepto Bismol…

  35. Pink with that nose looks really rude.

    1. Coming up the rear.

  36. The shark fin becomes a salmon fin?

  37. Ha. Amazing.

  38. angelic (@angelicdarkness)
    14th March 2017, 13:01

    I don’t think FI could be made worser than they already were. But hats off to their designers for making this possible. A tremendously ugly job. These are insanely complex machines , not some teenage girls dollhouse toy.

    1. @angelicdarkness thank you for the poor macho comment. Maybe time to grow up …

  39. The Blade Runner (@)
    14th March 2017, 13:04

    It looks like what would happen if someone accidentally put a Williams in the washing machine with a Ferrari!

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      14th March 2017, 13:06

      :D haha

    2. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!

  40. Why does it make me think of sanitary pads?

  41. petebaldwin (@)
    14th March 2017, 13:05

    I heard this rumour last week and thought it was a joke! :D

    It certainly adds colour to the grid! It’ll be interesting to see what it looks like on track.

  42. Like it and makes a lot more sense than the drink driving advert they’ve been running for years.

    1. @psynrg Johnny Walker sponsorship is still on the car. And why is it drink driving advert and not just a spirit advert?

      1. @montreal95 I guess for the same reasons a Marlboro McLaren, JPS Lotus, BAR (to name a few) were banned. Subliminal associations work. Hence vast amounts of money spent slapping logos on these machines.

        I’m not comfortable with the association of alcohol and driving. Why that is should be obvious.

        1. @psynrg Not the same as cigarettes. Cigarettes advertising is banned by law. Not only in cars(Don’t smoke and drive is meaningless, as if smoking is better while standing still) but in all sports. Alcohol sponsorship isn’t banned. If, despite all the “if you drink, never drive” slogans everywhere in F1, that make it super obvious you shouldn’t connect between it and drunk driving you choose to make the connection anyway then that’s entirely your choice. All people have different opinions, but only law matters.

          1. @montreal95 It sends out the wrong message for all motorsports. I think it should be banned. Get rid of all alcohol advertising in sports, starting with motorsports. Alcohol is after all responsible for more deaths than any other recreational drug. Combined with driving, well we all know what that means.

            Playing football, tennis, baseball or lacrosse etc. and having a beer or six isn’t going to be a danger to anyone (well, lacrosse excepted!)

            It’s all messed up really, smoking and driving is a very minor risk to anyone else; alcohol on the other hand.

            So where’s the logic in all this? I fully support the tobacco advertising ban, despite the effects of passive smoking being more nebulous (pun intended) than the immediate effects of a high-speed impact, courtesy of an alcohol fueled driver.

          2. Gavin Campbell
            14th March 2017, 18:27

            Well the same argument can be brought for speeding – F1 cars are racing – you should never race on the roads (unless their closed)

            Your not driving the cars, and hopefully not watching while driving. Sports are designed for some moderate alcohol consumption – few beers on a Sunday afternoon watching the GP with your mates. Hence why alcohol brands are keen to associate and not always be pushing party’s!

            Also I genuinely checked the date – thought it was a bit early for April 1st!!

          3. @psynrg. About 10-15 years NASCAR opened the doors up to allow hard liquors the ability to sponsor teams. However, they also required them to have some sort of drinking and driving campaign. I don’t know if its the same thing for F1 teams, but I would hoped that they do.

            I did see recently a Jackie Stewart commercial, where he turns down a drink before hoping into a car and driving off.

  43. They should have used ultra softs in the render.

    And is that a McLaren swoosh I see on the shark fin?

    All in all, a nice addition of colour to the grid, although I am more a fan of purple myself

    1. I guess it’s bit like the Nike one McLaren have in their cars.

  44. So cool. Best car so far.

  45. The Blade Runner (@)
    14th March 2017, 13:13

    I love the new helmet design

    1. @thebladerunner Thanks for wasting my time with that.

      1. The Blade Runner (@)
        15th March 2017, 8:30

        @the-last-pope What, slightly less time than it took you to write your comment?

  46. digitalrurouni
    14th March 2017, 13:20

    A bit jarring at first but now I like it in a weird way but that shark fin needs to go. OR it needs to be modified so it does not end so abruptly. It needs to have a shark bite taken out of it or something.

  47. Well no one will say they just blend into the background now…

  48. Back in the winter of 1995-96 the Jordan car (I still consider it as the grandfather of Force India) was supposed to look like the years before, green-blue-red-white and whatever. Then the B&H appeared, and the cars arrived in Melbourne gold-yellowish, and I remember a smiley Eddie Jordan telling the media that for the buttload of money like that, he would easily have painted the cars in pink as well. Two decades passed, and it happened to (almost) the same team : )

    1. And it’s the sort of team where some of the marketing crew were probably there when EJ said that, and joked about it as the livery arrangement was being made…

  49. I’m so glad they’ve got rid of that atrocious livery. Pink might not be to everyones taste but they’ll at least stand out

  50. Looks like it could be the official car for breast cancer awareness…

  51. i love pink! and its looking rather nice, the big sail still is a big down :/ the renault or sauber fin would be great!

  52. The more I look at it the more I like it, nicely suits the lines of the car, I’ll take this over the McLaren mankini any day.

  53. I’m glad this happened to the worst livery on the grid (the silver+orange+green one), rather than a classic livery turning pink instead.

    Good to have more variation and less black/grey/silver colours…

  54. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    14th March 2017, 13:34

    It’s amazing how we (as males) are almost brainwashed into turning our nose up at something pink as being feminine. Personally I really like it, so much better than the dull silver, it adds more colour to the grid and will look great with my handbag.

    1. Blastermaster
      14th March 2017, 15:36

      ….badoom-tish……!!!!!
      Here all week, try the veal…..

  55. Great to have a bit of variety! Its certainly different!!! It was the ugliest car so begin with so it was hard to ruin the look of it anyway!

  56. Now we just need a purple car and something in a lovely British Racing Green (I do miss that Jaguar Racing livery, minus the white + hsbc).

  57. Michael Brown (@)
    14th March 2017, 13:39

    Better than the boring grey/silver they’ve had since 2014. I would rather they go back to their colourful white, green, and orange livery.

  58. So, it was the raw muscle and manly power of the Hulk that was hiding Force India’s true identity all this while then.. :D

  59. apparently if you press a button on the dashboard the nose goes round and round. the racing dildos are born

    1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
      14th March 2017, 19:44

      @keithcollantine this is why you shouldn’t have gotten rid of the report button.

  60. Chris Brighton
    14th March 2017, 13:50

    Bit early for an April fools joke isn’t it? Because that’s what the livery is, a joke. It’s horrible.

  61. Holy ….! Now that is a striking colour!

  62. Uuuhhhh….yeah. Well…look, I know we complained about all the grey/silver/pewter, but I’m not really sure this is what we had in mind. How ’bout blue? Green? Blue-green? It worked for Benetton…

  63. Only men who are very sure about their heterosexual orientation can wear a pink colour! Good job Force India, I like it! 8-)

  64. My only worry is that the cameras won’t quite catch the colour, otherwise I’m glad they tried something different, leading to the most colourful grid since I started watching F1. If Renault and McLaren find a way to differentiate their liveries a little bit, I’d be happy ever after.

  65. I love it. Before it was a bit bland but the colour is bright and striking.

    Confused by jokes about sexuality though. I mean it’s a car and pink is a colour.

  66. Too bad the drivers have to conform with their helmets as well, I would be upset about that.

  67. I can’t find where the Russel or Sghinken are on this car!!! The should draw some lines for me.

  68. Force Pinkdia

  69. The Blade Runner (@)
    14th March 2017, 14:34

    As long as we don’t see it rear-ending a Haas…

  70. Some of the tires will result in an awfull combination ;)
    But it definitely stand out now

  71. All we need now is another pair of front wheels, and it will be FAB 1 from Thunderbirds

  72. Decided to take a closer look at the livery.

    This is what I found:

    Zoomed picture

  73. This just turned one of the my least favourite liveries of the year to one of the better looking ones, Love it (not just because of the pink).

  74. Also, it’s going to look awesome on the ultra-softs.

  75. If the primary idea behind a F1 livery is to attract attention and create a buzz for the sponsors and team, Force India have certainly succeeded.

    I mean this in a good way in this case. I think the color scheme is striking and yet tasteful. It reminds me of a high quality well designed fishing lure. A balance of beauty and natural flowing functionality.

    It will be no issue spotting their car on the track. Cheers, FI!

    1. Maybe they can now convince Cillit Bang to sponsor them. Barry Scott could do a advert driving the car!

  76. That’s an incredibly manly livery for the Force India. It’s so manly that even the fact it’s baby pink does not distract from it’s manliness!!

  77. I like pink, it can contribute to tasteful and elegant designs.

    What I’m not too thrilled about is the pastel pink that’s reminiscent of Hello Kitty. We can’t escape it, as that appears to be the colours used by all cars sponsored by BWT (not just in F1).

    However, I’d have preferred use of a more vibrant pink set off against black, something like this: http://hdblackwallpaper.com/wallpaper/2015/07/hot-pink-and-black-cars-6-cool-wallpaper.jpg

    Nevertheless, its good to see Force India having ditched what was IMHO one of the worst liveries among the 2017 constructors.

    1. @phylyp – Hello Kitty

      Ha! Knew there was something familiar about this. :-)

    2. @phylyp agree, it almost makes it look like gum

      But I think it will look quite cool once on track, especially with the matte finish

  78. The best thing about this topic that comes to my mind is a quote from Del Trotter: “But as someone famous (it was either Winston Churchill or Rocky Balboa) once said, ‘Being brave ain’t about not being punched, it’s about being punched but continuing to come back to get punched over and over again’.”

  79. It’s a joke right????

    I think my Indian friends will be watch f1 race alone in their place .. or put some highly silent earplug if he want to watch f1 race on tv with us .. hahaha

    And how about other sponsor? Di they have a right to determine the background color?

    But for sure every F1 driver other than forcepinkdia will smile every time they pass this car..

  80. I love this livery, so much better than the previous one!

  81. But it’s not April Fool’s day!!

  82. It looks like strawberry ice cream with red cherries. Still love it though.

    But in my opinion, the drivers should have been allowed to wear their own helmet designs.

    1. But in my opinion, the drivers should have been allowed to wear their own helmet designs.

      I completely agree. Have any livery you want but let the drivers have their own helmet colours. A pink band above the visor or some other detail is ok. But the whole helmet? Drivers should have their own identity.

  83. Oh My.. Pepto Bismol pink.

  84. Anything that adds colour to grid is a good thing

  85. Not April 1st yet lads …

  86. Much better than the old livery. It makes the ugliest car on the grid a bit less ugly. Now about that awful shark fin and terrifying nose…

  87. Is it just me, or, according to VJ, every little piece of Force India related news shows “how far we’ve come”?

    In all seriousness, though, this brings colour to the whole show, not just the FI garage.

    McLaren and Manor excepted, this has been an excellent pre-season. :)

    1. @andybantam to be fair though, Mclaren also have come far from dominating the late 80ies/early 90ies :-)

      1. @mrboerns It’s disappointing, though. A team with such providence and resource should be doing better. Honda, too.

        I want to see a competitive grid, I care not who wins. The only caveat being that more than one team has a genuine chance of having the performance to win at every race.

  88. Duncan Snowden
    14th March 2017, 17:23

    Pink? Okay. It’s a bit unusual, but Porsche used pink at Le Mans.

    But red and, especially, white stripes on pink? Or are they grey? It’s hard to tell because… look, you just don’t do that kind of thing. They’ve put a near-identical hue and a near identical intensity on top of that pink. Was this designed by Mallya himself on the back of an envelope? That is absolutely, positively, the worst F1 livery in decades, bar none.

    McLaren’s may have come in for some criticism, but there are aspects of it that show there’s some thought behind the simplicity. (Ditto last year’s Sauber, by the way.) That… that’s just, “Okay lads, sponsor wants pink. Get the sprayguns out…”.

    (It could be improved, by the way, if the white-or-grey stripe was changed to their old metallic silver, or – better – both stripes were a Toro-Rosso-style reflective metallic. It needs something to stop them falling into the main colour.)

    1. The Porsche had red stripes though, indicating what (edible) part of the pig you were looking at

      1. Duncan Snowden
        14th March 2017, 20:45

        Um. Yeah. So it did. :)

        But in my defence, FI’s red looks a lot “pinker” than the Porsche’s (it was more brown-ish), and anyway it’s really not the worst part here. The white/grey just doesn’t stand out from the background at all. I hope it’s better on-track.

  89. I really hope Hilkenberg opted for the green design for his helmet. Bright red would be… Difficult

    1. Except he drives for Renault now, ya?

      1. Maybe that is why he moved. Found out that the car’s livery will be pink this year.

      2. Oh you’re right, brainfade

    2. @tango and the article says that the team has confirmed that the drivers will switch to wearing pink helmets…

      1. thanks for the info @andybantam, it makes sense too

  90. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    14th March 2017, 17:47

    Ah, the things some people do for money.

    1. Atleast this is better than having a pay driver IMHO.

  91. Looks like a rolling tampon and should not be allowed on the grid except to be hazed and ridiculed by a global audience.

  92. Love it.

  93. Is this designed by a Japanese school girl.

  94. actually looks good!
    In that image its got a bit of the i just washed my white shirt for work with my Ferrari shirt and this happened.

  95. Looks like a barbie mobile. If it brings them funds I approve.

    Anything to make it faster. I hope Williams now goes gold and gets Bently sponsorship…

    McLaren wont get a title sponsor, not anytime soon, so no worry there.

  96. F1 could use stand to lighten up…a LOT. It’s not to my personal taste but I think it’s fun and different and bold. Remember, this is the team that finished 4th in the Constructors Championship last year, including beating Williams, etc.

    Everyone would also keep in mind that because of Bernie’s legacy of screwing over the independent teams in terms of distribution of money, that they need to take in as many big sponsors as they can, including the sponsor’s livery requests. From the sponsors point of view, a pink car draws much more attention to their brand.

  97. PINK! Absolutely awesome. Instantly the most recognisable car of 2017.

  98. I don’t dislike it. It’s not what I would choose but it’s quite distinctive.

    A vast improvement on what they had before which I think was the worst livery on this years’ grid.

  99. Looks like race fans will be brining sunglasses to the races more often.

  100. They could have painted the car with blue and white colors with pink stripes and pink company logo.

  101. I like it, it will add a bit of vibrancy to the grid.

    Is there an advantage with the matte paint finish? does the wind flow on it better?

    1. I read in an article a while back that matte finish prevents turbulent air. But that was from a blog, might be false !

      @t3x

  102. I LOVE IT! That colour looks great. Most people are too close-minded and dislike it for the sake of disliking the word “pink” as all associated with it. But when you look at it with no bias, this colour is some sort of a pale illuminating shade of red. Fantastic.

    1. Also being matt pink, I suspect it will look a lot darker than it does in this picture.

  103. It’s not pink, it’s salmon. OK?

    1. @andybantam I’m pretty sure it’s fuschia

  104. I feel so sorry for The Hulk having to drive this stupid ugly pink monstrosity.

    1. @wesley Good thing for you that he doesn’t have to. Perez and Ocon though, just need to remember the RAF flew pink camouflaged photo recon Spitfires during WW2. They will be close to invisible during the evening-night races lol.

    2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      15th March 2017, 5:22

      Hulk posted a great joke on his twitter and even replied to 1 guy – it was hilarious.

  105. Imagine being overtaken by a pink car………

    1. Yeah, I can imagine that!

      Well, I mean, it’s not that difficult. It’s no different from imagining being overtaken by a silver car. Or a blue car. Or a red car. Or an orange car.

      Why on earth do you think being overtaken by a pink car would be any different?

  106. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    14th March 2017, 23:57

    I might get a poster and put it on my daughters bedroom wall. It will totally match all of her things.

  107. I like the pink livery.
    It’s refreshing and muuuuuch better than the previous livery.

  108. Much better than the previous effort. Two thumbs up.

    But looking at it, I suddenly have the urge for strawberry ice cream.

  109. I like it a lot!

  110. the pink livery is okay but the blue BWT logo is hurting my eyes
    would be better off using a black and white version logo imo

  111. Wow, good job Force India, now everyone is talking about your car, just look how many comments on this post. Aboutthe livery, certainly an improvement, could be better. Btw, Mexico goverment sometimes uses pink for the Mexico brand, if I’m not wrong Checo Perez had a pink helmet in the past.

  112. The only time that color looks good is when you’re trying to find something to stop you from going to the crapper every 5 minutes. Horrendously ugly. FUGLY.

  113. Well.. No more India flag on the car anymore. So thats a shame.

    However this is a better livery than the previous one, weird as it may seem. Happier on account of force India landing a name sponsor.

  114. The (Indian) Tricolor ditched Mallya, and Mallya ditched the Tricolor.

    1. Haa.. Never thought about that. Looks like Vijay Mallya extradited the Indian colours from his Force India.

  115. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    15th March 2017, 5:19

    Kudos to Force India – they have kicked this season off with smiles all around!!!

    You know what? I’m digging the pink! At least it’s different and their sponsor is a water company which is another great thing!

  116. It. Looks. Horrendous!

    No matter how different it looks, such a pale shade of pink doesn’t belong in an F1 car. They could at least have gone with a hot pink to spice things up a bit. It’s just a pathetic colour! Orange and grey was way more macho. Urgh! I don’t think I’ll be able to take Force India seriously ever again after taking a look at that livery.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      15th March 2017, 13:47

      @pratyushp276 F1 has a plenty of machismo – what it doesn’t have much of is fun…

      I cannot wait for Alonso’s onboard comments while he’s following one of those cars, same for Kimi and Seb.

      I think Force India could go from being an obscure team outside F1 to a cool team. I’m surprised Richard Branson missed an opportunity to market his team properly.

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        15th March 2017, 13:50

        By the way, I hope Force India get Victoria’s secret as a sponsor too and the supermodels appear at races and they nice photoshoots with the cars.

  117. Is it April 1st already!?

  118. Mücke Motorsport copy and paste…

  119. Force India’s livery change has got them more publicity in the last two days than they got in the eight days of testing!

  120. This car was previosuly slated for the bump on the nose, but now its pink nobody mentions it. Strange.
    I actually though their initial livery was the most interesting.

Comments are closed.