Force India sues Lotus over car design

The Vijay Mallya-owned Force India Formula One team has sued F1 rival Lotus in UK, accusing it of copying their VJM03 wind tunnel model.

The Vijay Mallya-owned Force India Formula One team has sued F1 rival Lotus in UK, accusing it of copying their VJM03 wind tunnel model.

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"The Force India F1 Team confirms it has instigated UK civil proceedings against 1Malaysia Racing Team SDN BHD (a Malaysian company), 1Malaysia Racing Team (UK) Limited (Lotus Racing's parent companies), Michael Gascoyne and Aerolab SRL," the Silverstone-based team said in a statement today.

The F1 team, of which Mallya is the Chairman, alleged that Lotus, when it used the Aerolab and Fondtech facilities, utilised Force India's intellectual property, including components and tyres exclusively licensed by Bridgestone, on its wind tunnel model design for the current Lotus T127 chassis.

Force India said these are serious claims and it "would not be taking such action if it could not provide supportive evidence."

Force India believes Aerolab copied the team's wind tunnel -- a tool used in aerodynamic research -- design model and passed it on to Lotus.

Incidentally, Lotus technical boss Gascoyne worked with Force India in the past before he was shown the door.