The car made its track début the following day at the second group test at Circuito de Jerez.

First technical director as James Key left for Sauber, then four months later his successor Mark Smith was also gone, heading for Lotus.

Although F-duct and exhaust-blown diffuser upgrades arrived for the VJM03 (at Turkey and Hungary respectively) the team weren’t always getting them to work consistently, and Liuzzi in particular struggled with the blown rear wing.

Liuzzi’s best qualifying performance, sixth at Canada, was spoiled after a collision with Felipe Massa at the first corner.

[citation needed] As with its predecessor, the livery was retained with a new graphics; emblazoning the team's Indian identity.