F1 Force India team Principal Vijay Mallya aims for consolidation
The Force India Formula 1 team principal, Vijay Mallya wants to stay consistent and retain the team’s current sixth spot in the constructor’s standings this year.
The 2010 season has been ‘A dream come true’ for Mallya, as his team has been one of the surprise packages this season with Adrian Sutil doing extremely well for the relatively new team. Finishing sixth at Spa was easily the highlight of the season for both,
driver and team.
Heading into the Grand Prix at Singapore, the team looks set to retain their spot and hopefully keep the advantage of 11 points from closest rival Williams.
"For personal reasons we'd love to do well in Singapore as well, there's a huge Indian community, a huge amount of excitement. Force India would love to score a result that consolidates our position in the championship on what we consider to be our second
'home' territory," said the chairman.
Vijay Mallya admitted that his team was rather unlucky not to add anything to their points tally at the Italian Grand Prix but admitted that for a sport that is not only fast on track but of it as well, there is little time to look back and dwell on what
has already happened. The Indian added that poor qualifying greatly dictated the team’s fate at the previous race - perhaps it’s better to see the positives as both cars did relatively well in the subsequent race.
Vijay Mallya, in line with the optimism, believed that with 5 more races yet to be ticked off on the formula one calendar, the unit should be looking to make the most of the opportunities coming up.
This season’s Force India ace, Adrian Sutil, looked all set to make his team principal’s views a reality, as he himself is eyeing to get back in the points hunt in Singapore. He further stated that the point-less Monza outing saw Williams really closing
the gap, and now it was time for his team to respond.
Bearing in mind the current point scoring system, where first place gets 25, second 18, third 15, fourth 12, fifth 10, sixth 8, seventh 6, eight 4, ninth 2 and tenth 1 point, the 11 point protection looks easy to breach. However, bearing in mind the dominance
of teams ahead, namely; Red Bull Racing, McLaren Mercedes, Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault; all 5 teams featuring a total of 10 drivers, Force India and Williams’ could realistically have a shot at 8th,9th or 10th spot, meaning
lesser gains in the points department. This might suggest that in the battle for sixth, Force India can neither pull ahead that easy nor can they lose their lead in a matter of a race weekend – It looks all set for a battle that might go down the wire, come
the Brazilian Grand Prix in November.
Sutil further reflected upon what lies ahead for team and drivers alike. "There are only a couple of overtaking places so qualifying is crucial, and we'll be looking to get the whole package right from practice so that we can optimize our position for the
start."
Teammate, Italy’s Vitantonio Liuzzi seconded Sutil’s views with a direct claim that they would go into the upcoming Grand Prix with only sixth place in their minds and looked all set to take the fight to Williams in the last 5 races.
While it is worth commending the Italian for his enthusiasm, it is rather hard to believe how the effective Force India number two is going to deliver on the statement based on his own personal performance. Sutil has been competitive this season, scoring
45 points to his credit - A long way ahead of his teammate who only managed to contribute 13 points to the team’s benefit.
Whether Liuzzi’s claims are down to his own belief in his capabilities or the words of a man under immense pressure; nothing more than a shorter leg that has hampered Force India’s sprint towards their true potential, is a decision better left to the reader’s
subjective perspective.
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