Team Force India is hoping for a podium finish at the upcoming Silverstone Grand Prix. Team Principal Vijay Mallya is confident that new upgrades will help the team to a win. During the Valencia Grand Prix, Nico Hulkenberg and Paul Di Resta finished fifth and seventh.
“Nico Hulkenberg was on a traditional two-stop strategy and had the opportunity to pit under the safety car, so guts and luck came together,” Mallya said. “We are really proud of the result, even though it was a bitter pill when Nico Rosberg overtook Paul (di Resta) on the last lap but his tyres were old and Rosberg had fresh tyres.”
The Team Principal is convinced that his drivers would have had an even better result in Valencia if there weren’t any mistakes in Valencia’s qualifying. “I was hoping for a better qualifying result, but in Q3 maybe both overdrove the car, locked up the wheels etc. So we started eighth and tenth while I was actually hoping to start in the top five.”
“I have never regretted my decision about the drivers. On the contrary, I think we have two potential world champions in this team. They are both exceptionally talented. I am very delighted to have them.”
Both India and Silverstone are important Grands Prix for the team as they consider them both as their home race. “We regard Silverstone as one of our home races,” he said. “Our headquarters is just a stone’s throw from the track. We’ll do whatever it takes to bring as many upgrades as possible to be even more competitive. We want to be on the podium. I think we’re close to it now.”