Force India have insisted that their stunning pace shown at the Belgian Grand Prix was not a one-off performance, and that the former backmarking team will challenge for victory again in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in two weeks time.
The performance of Giancarlo Fisichella over the Belgian weekend was a revelatory moment for Vijay Mallya's team. Before the weekend at Spa, his team had failed to score a single point since they took over the Spyker team at the start of 2008. But Fisichella shocked the paddock by qualifying on pole position, and then hanging on to the back of race winner Kimi Raikkonen all the way to the line.
But for Raikkonen's use of KERS at the early safety car restart, many believe Fisichella would have scored one of the all-time unlikely victories for the team. But the powers that be within the team are not feeling disheartened about missing out on the top step of the podium, and believe that they can fight just as strongly at Monza in two weekend's time.
Fisichella's pace during the Belgian race was consistent and quick, which has seen hopes raised that the much-modified VJM02 is finally coming good. Monza's low downforce configuration is also believed to play to their strengths.
"Why not?" Vijay Mallya shrugged when he was asked if his team would be as strong as they were in Belgium for the Monza event, "We know that the car is quick, blindingly quick I would say. The sector times show it and I think the Monza track will suit us."
The team already have an aerodynamic test scheduled for this week, as they look to build on their Spa podium.
The team chief operating officer Simon Roberts admitted that the boost they got at Spa wasn't quite what they had originally intended when making recent changes to the car design.
"Our car is quick in a straight line. I'd like to say that's what we intended, but it isn't," he said sheepishly, reassuring many other teams who may have been worried about Force India becoming a super-polished professional team overnight.
He explained that: "What we have tried to do is to put genuine upgrades on the car to create more downforce. The Valencia upgrade was very low on drag and was a good time to deliver that before Spa and Monza. We've got an aero test next week, so we'll hit the ground with more data at Monza. That makes it easier for the engineers and we should be able to set into it quicker.
"Obviously Monza is low drag. We've got some more wings to try there. We've got an aero test next week so unlike on Friday here, on Friday in Monza we know what the wings do so we should hit the ground strong.
"Then we've got some more stuff coming through at Singapore. We could have brought it forward a bit, but because it's pretty low drag as is Monza, we have left it. So there's stuff at the factory ready to go on the cars. It's not like that's it - we are still pushing."
When asked how the Spa performance will affect the morale in the team, Roberts grinned that: "This will lift everybody. It helps eveyone connected with us to feel good about this and will give us a bit more."
Mallya praised the work done by the team on the new upgrades to the car, and insisted that 2009 represented his team's first "real" year in Formula One.
"As you well know, this is my first real year in Formula 1 as Force India," he insisted, hastily airbrushing the team's pointless 2008 season off the record, "Last year all we did was race the Spyker car because we bought the team at the end of 2007. In 2008 it was the same Spyker package, the same management team, the same engineering. And then we revamped everything and designed and built this car.
"I think ever since Australia it's fair to say that we haven't been the laggards at the back. We've been a good midfield team and getting better all the time. We were confident about our Valencia upgrade and it's showed positive results with our strong double finish in 10th and 12th, and here in Spa we introduced yet another update."
He concluded that: "From free practice one, both Fisichella and Adrian were very happy with the car and the performance. We were once again hoping for points but then, when pole showed up, we were ecstatic, and clearly we are ecstatic with the podium finish."
Mallya himself had been widely derided for stating ambitions of podium finishes in 2010 and race wins in 2011, but claims that he is not revising the ambitions of his team just yet on the back of their Belgian podium.
"It's just too early," he said, "I'm just trying to assimilate it all. We will talk about targets later on."
Meanwhile, he claimed that there had still been no formal approach from Ferrari to claim the services of Fisichella as a stand-in for Felipe Massa at the Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari are widely expected to replace current stand-in Luca Badoer for Monza, after the Italian had another dire weekend at the wheel in Belgium.
"I can't comment," Mallya said, "Ferrari hasn't come to me, Fisichella hasn't come to me. His manager hasn't come to me. This is all speculation.
"Fisichella has been part and parcel of the team. His experience has helped the engineers enormously in the development of the car and he's a very valuable member of my team. I'm sure he's very proud and pleased with his own performance in Belgium, and the car that we have given him to drive."
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