The VJM02 emerged from a turbulent design process. Two senior figures, chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne and team principal Colin Kolles, were released from their contracts late in 2008 following a conflict with team owner Vijay Mallya, disrupting continuity within the technical department. More significantly, the team made a late-development decision to abandon the Ferrari engine partnership and switch to Mercedes power, bundled with McLaren gearboxes and hydraulics. Adapting to those new components required a partial redesign of the suspension, sidepods, and rear aerodynamics, at the cost of testing time — a trade-off the team calculated as worthwhile given the potential performance gain.
The VJM02 was the first car from a Northamptonshire-based team to use ExxonMobil fuel and lubricants under the Mobil brand. It was publicly revealed after its first test run at Silverstone on 28 February 2009, followed by further running at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain the next day. The car's livery, based on white with green and orange, was drawn from the colours of the Indian flag.
For the 2009 season, new regulations mandated narrower, taller rear wings and wider, lower front wings, intended to reduce aerodynamic turbulence and facilitate overtaking. Slick tyres returned to Formula One for the first time since 1998, adding approximately twenty percent to tyre grip potential. The VJM02 was designed with an option to carry a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which could recycle braking energy for deployment as a power boost. Force India had initially planned to adopt the same KERS system used by McLaren, but elected not to run it during the season.
Updates introduced at the Bahrain Grand Prix included a revised floor and diffuser, an upgraded front wing, and reprofiled sidepods. Further aerodynamic development was brought to the European Grand Prix and proved highly effective.
The car's overall championship record was modest. Force India scored points at only two rounds, finishing ninth in the Constructors' Championship. However, those two scoring appearances were extraordinary for a team of their resources.
At the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, Fisichella claimed a surprise pole position — the first in Force India's history — and converted it into a second-place finish behind Kimi Räikkönen. The result triggered an immediate offer from Ferrari, who needed a replacement for the injured Felipe Massa, and Fisichella moved to the Scuderia for the remainder of the season, with Vitantonio Liuzzi stepping into the Force India seat.
In the following Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Sutil delivered a fourth-place finish and recorded the race's fastest lap, bringing Force India a second consecutive points-scoring round and demonstrating that Spa had not been an isolated stroke of fortune.
The VJM02 represented Force India's breakthrough moment as a constructor in their own right. The Belgian result in particular signalled that the team, under new management and with a fresh technical direction, was capable of mixing with the established midfield and occasionally reaching beyond it. The car's performance at Spa and Monza generated credibility that helped define Force India's identity as an effective, resourceful operation in the years that followed.