The ex-Esteban Ocon – eight times points scoring. Third-place on the grid, Italian Grand Prix, Monza
2017 Force India VMJ10 Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater
Chassis no. VJM10-04

During the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship season the tight-knit Force India team – despite being one of the smaller equipes in the competition - which punched consistently far above its apparent weight. As such it became a favourite with many Formula 1 fans worldwide who loved to back an underdog against the infinitely better-funded, and more favoured, 'establishment' teams. Indeed, so consistently well did Force India perform during this particular World Championship series that they ended the season with an incredibly commendable fourth place overall in the Formula 1 Constructors' title chase.

As driven through the latter half of 2017 by French star Esteban Ocon, chassis 'VJM10-04' now offered here competed in no fewer than nine later-season World Championship-season Grand Prix races, finishing all of them but one. Even more significantly, Esteban Ocon drove this car to a World Championship points-scoring finish in every one of its eight completed Grand Prix races, with best results of fifth in the Mexican Grand Prix, and sixth in both the Japanese GP at Suzuka and in the United States GP at Austin, Texas.

The young French driver also impressed by driving so rapidly during rain-swept qualifying for the year's Italian Grand Prix at Monza – regarded by many as being the spiritual home of Grand Prix racing itself – that it was only partly thanks to engine-change penalties affecting rivals that 'VJM10-04' offered here lined-up on the starting grid directly behind the pole position Mercedes-AMG W08 of multiple-World Champion Lewis Hamilton – Ocon third on the starting grid.

Many enthusiasts/collectors will also be interested in the fact that this is also an ex-George Russell Formula 1 car, being the chassis in which the new young current star drove for Force India during first Friday practice on the Yas Marina circuit during the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend. Today George Russell has been incredibly impressive in the Mercedes-AMG's 2022 Formula 1 programme – and such early connections with a potential future legend's earliest Formula 1 career make this car an attractive prospect indeed.

Force India's origins derived from the Jordan Grand Prix team, which had first entered Formula 1 racing as long ago as 1991. Their operation was based at Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire, England, and despite always struggling to make ends meet financially the Jordan operation had won four Grand Prix races and took third place in the 1999 Formula 1 Constructors' Championship. Eventually the financial strains became too great to remain on Formula 1's competitive tightrope, and early in 2005 owner Eddie Jordan sold the team to Canadian Alex Shnaider's Midland Group.

As Midland F1 Racing the team struggled and was soon acquired by Dutch interests to become Spyker F1 from mid-2006, scoring a World Championship point in 2007 before being resold to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, contemporary chairman of the United Breweries Group – famous for its Kingfisher brand beer - and existing Dutch director Michiel Mol. The Force India title was adopted for 2008 and team principal Colin Kolles and technical director Mike Gascoyne led their resurgent operation.

Following an unsuccessful run of 29 races without scoring a World Championship point, Force India made its breakthrough at the 2009 Belgian GP with driver Giancarlo Fisichella finishing second!

The team survived as extremely capable midfield competitors into 2017 when it was acquired by a consortium of investors headed by Lawrence Stroll, Canadian head of Sportswear Holdings and father of aspiring driver Lance Stroll. The company was restyled as Racing Point UK, and after successful seasons 2018-2020 the team was again re-titled for 2021 and has brought the Aston Martin brand name back into Formula 1 racing for the first time since 1960 – another consortium headed by Lawrence Stroll having taken control of the legendary Aston Martin marque itself in 2020.

The 2017-season Force India VJM10 – chassis '04' – now offered here has been retained by the Silverstone-based team ever since they built and campaigned it originally through the latter half of that Formula 1 World Championship season. This is not just an ex-team car. It is in fact one of Force India's most consistently successful half-season Formula 1 cars ever to be offered for public sale.

This most attractive Formula 1 projectile is offered here in assembled rolling-chassis, show-car configuration less the relevant Mercedes-Benz MO8 EQ 'Power+' hybrid powertrain which it used in action. When reassembled after the end of the 2017 season this particular ex-Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes VMJ10 was completed in the pilot 2018 livery as now offered here.

The Silverstone-based organisation's 2017 season was so impressive that one end-of-season assessment declared "Yet again Force India delivered an incredible bang-for-buck performance to finish fourth in the Constructors' Championship – all the more remarkable in 2017 because of the new regulations that, in theory, should have increased their disadvantage to teams with more resources, they scored points with both Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in all but three of the races.

The design team had been led by the experienced Andy Green with senior designers Akio Haga and Ian Hall and aerodynamics director Simon Phillips. As the season progressed the team finally fell behind the rival Renault operation but the budgetary backing of such a giant rival only barely – in performance terms – outstripped the VJM10 cars. As 'Autocourse' annual stated at the end of 2017 "...the VJM10 (kept) fighting its corner...its superior reliability and consistency gained the team a highly meritorious place. In summary Force India did a near-perfect job of maximising its resource...".

And today, this most attractive recently-historic Formula 1 car, with its record of no fewer than eight World Championship points-scoring finishes, and that third place qualifying performance for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, is just one bid away from gracing your garage...

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