Ground Report

Vijay Mallya the Force India owner said, "In the first three races it will be more about testing, learning and implementing what we learn into future development on the aerodynamic front." He said that the upcoming championship is expected to be a defining year for Force India and the team are hoping to begin scoring points after the European leg of races began.

Mallya said the team would need to carry out development of aerodynamics of the car during the beginning of the season and despite being built in a short period only two small problems had surfaced during testing of the car in Jerez and Barcelona.

Fisichella the Force India’s veteran driver said it was still difficult to say what the chances of the team were this year. He added "We have good potential with a new engine and gearbox, but we need some work in the first four to five races."

 

Fisichella said, the team had a good testing session in Barcelona and the car was reliable but at the moment the team was not quick enough to win any races, and he added "At the moment we may not be able to get on the podium but possibly through the point system we could get on it."  

Mallya said "Due to the economic gloom the FIA has said that standardised KERS will be implemented from next year and Force India will be able to buy it at an affordable cost," he added "However, a lot of cost cutting is necessary to curb wasteful spending by the teams.".

The two drivers, Fisichella and Sutil, said there would be more pressure on them to perform better this year but it would not affect their performance.

Fisichella said "There is a lot of pressure on my shoulders to do better and I get the chance to do my best in that case."

Sutil the German driver said that during last year’s championship they had been trying to get the best out of the car and this year they had a lot of positive pressure to do well.  He added "It is boring to drive around without any pressure and we need to aim to win."