Sunday 28 September 2014

Mallya delighted with team progress

Click to Download
(Sahara Force India Formula One Team)

Sahara Force India F1 Team principal and managing director Dr Vijay Mallya has hailed his outfit's performance this season as the sport heads into the closing stages of the current campaign. The Silverstone based outfit head to the Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit next weekend in 5th place in the Constructors championship, on 117 points 6 ahead of the 'great McLaren'

Force India have had an incredible 2014 season which has seen the team score their first podium finish since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix as Sergio Perez finished the Bahrain Gran Prix on the podium in third place behind the Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

When asked about their battle with McLaren, Mallya commented:

'Of course I'm loving it, Let's make it clear - when you race with the big boys and are ahead of them, it gives you that extra bit of a high, doesn't it? I'm a racer myself and I get excited about these things.'

In contrast to Force India, McLaren have endured an extremely difficult season in 2014 by their standards and have scored just two podium finishes. McLaren CEO Ron Dennis has stated that the restructuring programme that was put in place will take 18 months to 2 years to yield results.

'McLaren are going to fight, so we have to continue the fight to the last race. We have a few updates coming and I'm sure they have too. I don't have the budget that McLaren has - that's a known fact and something I don't have to prove or disprove. 

I don't know what they do or how they spend their money, but I certainly keep a tight watch on how we spend our money. I know there is another upgrade coming for later on this season and that's all part of the plan.'

Mallya has also confirmed that for the first time since he took over the Silverstone based outfit he has signed off on developing this year's VJM07 right up until the last race of the season as he has stated that there will be very little change in terms of new regulations regarding the chassis following the huge regulation changes that were brought in prior to the start of this season.

If the Silverstone based outfit go on to finish the championship in fifth place in the Constructors championship it would be their highest finishing position since the team entered Formula One in 2008.

© Ben Johnston 2014

No comments:

Post a Comment