Formula One news
Mallya hoping for better qualifying
06 July 2009Vijay Mallya is pleased to have witnessed another Force India top ten result at the most recent Grand Prix at Silverstone. After narrowly missing out on points on several occasions in 2009, the Indian team owner is now targeting better qualifying sessions in order to help his drivers move up the order.
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| Three-time race winner Fisichella missed out on points by less than two seconds in Monaco |
With a qualifying crash for Adrian Sutil at Silverstone having also compromised the final lap of team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella, the Italian fought to tenth place in the race from 16th on the grid. "We were constrained by time in designing and building the initial version of the VJM02 and we had very little pre-season testing time," explained Kingfisher tycoon Mallya, who had hoped to score points before the Spanish Grand Prix this year.
"We knew we had to introduce a significant upgrade in Bahrain then a more comprehensive upgrade at Silverstone - I think this upgrade showed that the car is now a true, strong midfield competitor. The bottom line is that we're there and all that I had programmed for the team in terms of gradual improvement in 2009 is happening; given our relatively small size, this is a great achievement and we'll keep going flat out up to the mandatory August break.
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| Adrian Sutil pushes beyond the limit at Silverstone |
"At Silverstone there were no luck stories, like it rained or some extraordinary event happened - this is pure racing and that's what gives me the confidence that we'll get there. As we have had a longer gap between Silverstone and Germany, the team back at the factory has been working very hard on consolidating the step forward we made at the last event; we will have a continuation of the new front wing assembly we used in Britain and a new detail on the floor."
With 2009 a certain improvement on the team's first season last year, the quest for its first points in still on although Mallya is proud to be running a squad which has beaten a number of fancied runners this year. "To be beating cars like the McLarens, the BMWs and the Renaults says a lot for a small team like Force India," he continued. "I hope that we will score some points during the remainder of this season. Otherwise, I'm more than just optimistic - in fact I'm pretty confident - that from 2010 onwards we will be in the points on a regular basis and that leads me to believe that my often stated objective of being on the podium in 2011 isn't a pipe dream anymore!"
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