Statistically the Silverstone-based team has improved over every Formula 1 season since its debut in 2008. Although the team lies in eighth, it has experienced its strongest ever start with their drivers, German Nico Hülkenberg and Scotsman Paul di Resta. Still Force India is unable to keep on track with their rivals Sauber, Williams and Lotus.
“We were sixth in the championship last year and we had the objective this year of coming fifth,” Mallya commented on Friday. “However, the improvement of Lotus has been exceptionally dramatic, so I think to target fifth is probably overreaching our capabilities for this year. We should at least target sixth, where we finished last year, and that means getting ahead of both Sauber and Williams.”
Mallya stresses that tyres are still the talking point: “Sitting on the pit wall and listening to the predictions and guesswork on tyres is unbelievable. The most unpredictable part of this season has been the tyres and, with the high temperatures in Hungary, it was always a debate. Two stops or three stops? One thing I was pretty sure of was that nobody was going to try a one-stop.”
