Force India team principal Vijay Mallya rues missed chances at Silverstone circuit – Formula 1
Force India team principal Vijay Mallya has said that his team missed an opportunity in the Silverstone Grand Prix of the 2011 Formula 1 season due to a pit wall error which eventually ruined Paul di Resta’s race.
The Indian billionaire added that over the course of the last two races, Force India have shown good progress in the qualifiers and the race. He added that the team is now capable of taking the fight to Toro Rosso and Sauber in the remainder of the 2011
Formula 1 season.
Mallya commented that soon Force India will be reflecting their true pace on the track.
“What is important now is to deliver that performance in the races where it matters most of all. Over the last few races we have demonstrated that the competitiveness of the car continues to improve and we are capable of qualifying consistently in the top
10,” added Mallya.
Mallya also commented on the Silverstone race that after di Resta showed good speed in the Silverstone qualifiers, a good result was expected of him. However, it was not to be as the pit crew faltered in the race and ruined an opportunity to show the true
potential of the VJM04 car.
He said, “Looking back on Silverstone, we have to view it as a missed opportunity. With confusion on the pitwall, we failed to convert our excellent qualifying performance into points. We have put measures in place to ensure such a situation cannot happen
again.”
The British driver di Resta drove superbly in the qualifiers to book a seat in the top ten but Sunday was not as lucky for him. When the Brit dived into the pits for his stop, his team panicked and brought out a wrong set of tyres after which di Resta spent
more than the expected time in the pits and lost the opportunity to score points.
Nevertheless, ten races are still to be contested in the 2011 season and it will be interesting to see how far Force India go in the midfield championship battle.
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