Mallya: “Force India must get on the podium”

Force India team boss Vijay Mallya has admitted that his team needs to start maximizing the car's potential as soon as possible to avoid being left out in the battle for the Constructors' Championship.

Even though the Indian team has won more than double the points it had at this stage last year, 28 compared to 10, they are already 30 points behind Sauber, who currently occupy sixth place in the standings. Not to mention that Force India is the only team in the top eight that has not yet managed to finish on the podium this year and for this weekend's race in Valencia Mallya has called on the team to level up and improve their performances .

“I think Canada has shown once again that Formula 1 is difficult to predict at the moment”, said the Indian billionaire. “There is great competitiveness with seven different winners in seven races, it's good for the sport and I'm convinced it will be like this for a long time. But while it is difficult to predict who will win, we need to improve our performances, especially if we are to aim for fifth or sixth in the Constructors' Championship. Yes, we had one of our best starts ever in terms of points earned, but the teams around us also started exceptionally well. The teams that have been close to us in recent years, such as Sauber and Williams, have been on the podium, and I am sure that our time will come. It's something we need to do as soon as possible because we are rapidly approaching the halfway point of the season. I hope we can regain our form in Valencia, score many points and demonstrate our potential.".

After scoring 10 points in Monaco, in Canada Force India suffered, especially with Paul Di Resta, from high temperatures and tire degradation. Mallya believes the VJM05 can do well in Valencia, having understood what went wrong in Montreal. “Looking back at Canada it's fair to say we have mixed emotions. We were disappointed with the overall result, but it's true that we had a fast car for most of the weekend,” added the Indian. “After a promising start to the race, with Paul fighting for fifth place, we had a drop in performance. However, we have examined the problems we had in the match and believe we understand why we lost.", concluded the owner of the Asian team.

Lorena Bianchi