Team boss Vijay Mallya says he is hopeful that
Force India can follow in the footsteps of
Williams and Sauber in securing a 'special result' this season once it gets to grips with the Pirelli's latest F1 tyres.
Already this season,
Williams has secured victory thanks to Pastor Maldonado in Spain while Sergio Perez came close to taking his maiden win in Malaysia before settling for second behind Fernando Alonso.
Force India currently sit eighth in the championship standings behind both
Williams and Sauber and Mallya said he was keen to close the current gap – with the possibility that one good race could put the Silverstone-based team right in the mix for the top six.
“I'm very pleased with the way things went in Monaco with both cars in the points,” he said. “It was our second double points finish of the season and the result brings us much closer to our nearest competitors, Sauber and Williams. We have our eyes focused on closing the gap further and I believe we have the pace to get on terms with them in the points race soon.
“The unpredictability of
Formula One continues with the sixth different winner of the season in Monaco. I believe this unpredictability has crept in largely because of the tyres and it's making for some entertaining races. That's why we're working especially hard to understand the tyres better to make sure we get the best out of them. If we can find the sweet spot I hope we can enjoy our own special results in the races to come.
“As for Canada this weekend, we've had good and bad times in Montreal in recent years. We were competitive there in 2010, but last year I believe we threw away some certain points. Hopefully we'll redeem ourselves this year.”
Paul di Resta is currently the best placed of the two
Force India drives in the title race having scored four times in six races and he said he was confident of keeping his strong run going on his second outing in Canada.
“I think we've demonstrated that we can carry on where we left off last year and fight for points everywhere,” he said. “The teams around us are all strong, but we've shown that we are consistent and can take on teams like Lotus,
Williams and Sauber, who are all looking competitive. In terms of points scored we are well ahead of where we were this time last year we take a lot of positives from that. I believe we can keep picking up points and be even stronger in the second half of the year.”