At the start of the 2009 season, no one would have believed that Force India would be close to winning on merit by August. Mark Glendenning explains the team's incredible progress

The 2009 Formula 1 season's definitive example of how money doesn't always translate into success will forever be the fact that Toyota never managed to contrive a win. But the point could just as easily be made with the fact that Force India very nearly did.

McLaren's mid-season turnaround might have stolen the limelight, but Force India's was perhaps even more dramatic. McLaren is a large, well resourced – in every sense of the word – team with an exceptional recent track record. To recover from the mire it found itself in at the start of the season was an achievement, but it was one well within the team's capabilities.

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