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Force India: Biggest steps will come in Europe

March 23, 2015 « More than two years needed to catch Mercedes - Boullier | Bottas taking 'necessary measures' to return in Malaysia » 
Force India does not expect to make its biggest development strides until the European season as it continues to recover from its late start to 2015.

Force India delayed the introduction of the VJM08 until the third and final test in Barcelona, though it did complete 304 laps in less than three days when it finally emerged from the garage. Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez finished sixth and tenth respectively in Australia, thanks in part to only 11 drivers finishing the race, and team boss Vijay Mallya knows work needs to be done to make points finishes a regular occurrence.

"Despite scoring well in Melbourne, we know the VJM08 is only just beginning its development journey and that we need to add performance if we want to finish consistently in the points," Mallya said. "There will be some small tweaks this weekend before bigger steps can be made during the European season.

"Malaysia is an interesting track for us. We had a good race there last year with Nico and it's a track that generates good racing. The hot weather usually plays to our strengths and the risk of rain can add another dimension to the strategy. Hopefully we can capitalise on these elements to be competitive and come away with another strong result."

Hulkenberg explained how Force India maximised its points finish in Melbourne and knows the team cannot afford to get carried away by one positive weekend.

"We knew the VJM08's reliability was one of our strong points and we were able to play that card well," the German said. "We didn't make any mistakes and we had a good strategy, and that helped us capitalise on a day when others ran into trouble. We need to keep our feet on the ground, however, because we know the circumstances in which we got this result and we know the next races will be tough."

