Force India owner Vijay Mallya tells DNA that his team has demonstrated its racing capability.
Force India owner Vijay Mallya tells DNA that his team has demonstrated its racing capability.
What does this fantastic result mean to you?All of us are ecstatic. I bought Spyker in December 2007. For the entire 2008 season we had the old Spyker chassis. We tried to modify it as much as we could. Also, we had the same management team. However, 2009 is Force India’s first year. We have a new team which has a fresh approach to design and development. Besides, the deal with McLaren Mercedes has also helped us. We are not roaming around in the back. We have been finishing in the mid field consistently. We have now demonstrated our racing capability.
When asked about race prediction on Saturday, you said you didn’t want
to push your luck too far by expecting a podium...It wasn’t that we were lucky to finish 2nd. It was a strong, commanding performance. The 2nd place finish was well deserved. What we achieved was fair and square.
How significant is this result considering your team has a limited budget?Money can’t buy results. We have a small budget. Our team is tightly knit and extremely focused. Though there is no shortage of resources, I spend my money carefully, consciously and wisely. There are some teams whose budget is five or six times as big as ours. There are 276 people working for Force India. In some teams, this number exceeds 1000.
Where do you go from here?With every performance, you keep raising expectations. You have to constantly raise the bar. There are 10 teams competing out of which five are backed by the largest automobile manufacturers. There is no way you can go backwards. It is natural to expect a higher and better performance next time around.
What has been more memorable, the pole position or 2nd place?Both have been memorable. You cannot change or swap it. To finish on pole was a spectacular achievement. To finish the race on the podium is a brilliant result.
Have you achieved the target you set?I think we have delivered results well in advance. For 2009, we were targeting points finish. 2010 was supposed to have been the year when we would have scored a podium finish. We have achieved our target quicker than anticipated.
How frustrating was it to not score points for 29 races?It was obviously frustrating considering that we had come extremely close on three occasions. We knew we had a good car, good drivers. That’s why it was a bit annoying not to score points. However, today it has changed a lot. We now have 8 points and a podium finish.
What was your thinking when you signed Fisichella?I had complete confidence in Fisichella’s experience, ability, competence and driving skill. He is a top class driver and his feedback has helped the engineers to develop the car.
Do you have any comments on the reports linking Fisichella to Ferrari?Ferrari haven’t approached me nor has Fisichella. These are just rumours and I don’t want to comment on it.
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