Force India chairman Vijay Mallya considers his team’s disastrous German Grand Prix just a blip and wants at least one of his drivers to finish among points in all the remaining eight races as they aim a top-five finish in the constructor championship.
Force India maintained its sixth position even after missing points in Hockenheim last week and are hoping to get back to points in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
With 47 points in their kitty, Force India are 49 points behind fifth-placed Renault.
“Germany was very disappointing for the team but I see it as a blip rather than anything more significant. Fortunately it was only the second time this year we have missed out on the points and — more importantly — we did not lose any ground to our main rivals so we got off lightly, all things considered.
“However this clearly cannot happen again as the race for fifth and sixth in the championship is closer than ever now and we need to finish with at least one car in the points at each race from now on,” Mallya said.
Apart from mechanical problems for Adrian Sutil and an accident involving Vitantonio Liuzzi, the mistaken swapping of the tyres during the pit stop only compounded the problems of Force India.
Sutil, who finished 17th in Germany, said Hungary circuit is tough but he is confident of making Q3.
“Budapest is a great city, it’s beautiful there and always nice and warm. I’m looking forward to it after a cold weekend in Germany. The Hungaroring is actually a difficult track, with a lot of corners that require focus as one leads into the next without any recovery time.
“I like driving there, even though the average speed is quite low. Qualifying is very important and despite our recent form in this area, I’m always confident I can make it into the top 10,” he said.
Italian Liuzzi, who crashed out of the qualifying after an accident and finished 16th in the last race, said what happened in pit lane was shame but was optimistic of doing well on twisty Hungary track.
“The race was basically difficult from that point, which was a shame because we had a strong pace, and with the hard tyres we were really consistent and fast. It was good enough to be in the top 10, if we had started in front.
“Although we know it could be a tough weekend for us because of the strength of the competition now, we still have a chance to fight for points because we’re always there when everything goes right.
“And it’s like a big Monaco in that the circuit is very twisty and there’s not much room for overtaking, and at Monaco we were quite strong,” he said.
