Force India: Vijay Mallya takes an initial assessment
The boss of the Sahara Force India F1 team, Vijay Mallya, gives an initial assessment of his team before the start of the European campaign in Barcelona. The Indian boss is proud of this start to the 2014 season.
Force India is the surprise of the beginning of the season, with a third place in the World Constructors’ Championship ahead of teams like McLaren or Lotus. The Mercedes engine is one of the reasons for the good performances, but other factors contribute to it.
The talent of drivers Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez is not unfamiliar with good results, as Mallya admits. The German driver drove for Force India in 2011 and 2012 before his remarkable season at Sauber. He was considered for a seat at Ferrari before Kimi Räikkönen was hired. His Mexican teammate, on the other hand, is a transfer from McLaren.
« I think we can be very satisfied with our performance in the first four races » says Mallya « We have scored points every time, Sergio made it to the podium, and Nico never finished lower than 6th place. We have already scored 70% of the total points we had in 2013. »
The big boss is showing confidence for the first European race in Spain next weekend: « It’s encouraging to see that we’ve succeeded on a wide range of circuits since the beginning of the season, it makes me optimistic about maintaining our competitiveness in Barcelona. China has never been a strong circuit for us, so leaving with 10 points was a good thing. »
Vijay Mallya believes he is experiencing the best season in the history of the Indian team but remains cautious: « We expect our car to perform well in hot conditions [in Spain] and some upcoming races should suit us. At the same time, we know that Formula 1 is constantly progressing and Barcelona is a key moment in the development [of the cars]. But I remain confident about maintaining our momentum. »
