Force India’s technical director, James Key, claims that there is still more to come from the Silverstone-based team in the rest of the 2009 season.
The team has come close to scoring its first ever points on a number of occasions this season, most notably in Germany and in China where Adrian Sutil ran in the points only to succumb to bad luck.
However in an interview on Force India’s official website, Key reckons that the team must continue to improve and take every opportunity that arises.
“We have had our cars in points scoring positions this year on a number of occasions but not brought the result home,” said Key. We had a good window of opportunity in the middle of the season after a big step forward at Silverstone, but it did not work out for us due to Adrian’s unfortunate accident in qualifying.
“However Giancarlo [Fisichella]’s excellent race drive at that event from 16th on the grid to 10th, just seconds off the points, shows the pace to score points was there.
“Similarly in Germany where qualifying went well, we maintained position for points only for the coming together with Raikkonen after the first round of stops.
“Hungary was less competitive for us, however we have a fair bit more to come for the next part of the season and we need to ensure that we capitalise on every opportunity available to us in future.”
Key also added that with the field so competitive, combined with this season’s stunning rate of development, qualifying will remain crucial.
“We have tenths and hundredths between cars at present with just over one second covering the entire grid,” he said. “This is of course incredibly close, so any reasonable updates can make a significant difference to position. As a result there is a lot of emphasis on optimising qualifying.
“We had a good start position in Germany and raced at the front without any issues, maintaining a points scoring position. With the current situation, track position is vital.
