Mallya has always maintained that, while he would have liked to have seen more definitive signs of progress at his team this year, Force India's future was always the focal point, and he dismisses the first anniversary of his takeover as anything special.
"There are always times for reflection - the day I first came to the factory, the first time I saw Force India colours on the car, the first time I stepped into the garage as a team owner....," he noted, "Although these milestones always give us a chance to look back and think, we have to look forwards rather than backwards. We have strong foundations, but we need to build on them now. We always said this would be a tough year, but we've got to deliver now.
"We're here, we're competing on a world class stage and we are holding our own - every Indian can be proud that we've done that. I think it's important for me to be there as a figurehead as my team find it motivating, but I don't want to be there looking over everyone's shoulders all the time. I have to leave them to do what they do best and take decisions when I need too. I'm in charge at the end of the day, but I don't need to make my presence felt at all times.
"I just expect the same things every time we go racing - reliability, dedication, enthusiasm and passion. I understand it's difficult, but F1 is so competitive now that you can't let your game slip for one second. Of course I'd like to see points and Q2, but let's be realistic....."
The man charged with overseeing the team's technical package also admits loftier ambitions may be unrealistic, but reckons that emulating Spyker and scoring a point in the final three races could be a possibility for Force India, even if there are no major developments planned for the races in Japan, China and Brazil.
"This time last year, with Spyker, we scored our first point and I think we still hope to do this before the end of the year as Force India," claimed chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne, "We would be very disappointed not to do that as we have been a much more competitive outfit this year. F1 is just very close now.
"The weather [in Japan] at this time of year can be very wet, as we saw last year, and this did play into our hands in 2007 when Adrian drove a great race in the conditions.
"We have strengthened the engineering side of the team and have invested in the facilities at the factory and at the wind tunnel so, although it's frustrating not to have had better results as a team, we are in a much stronger position than we were this time last year."
