Sahara Force India aims podium finish

[1]

Sahara Force India drivers Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg say the team's focus at its home race over the weekend will be to get both cars in points and possibly a podium finish.

Force India go into the Oct 26-28 Indian Grand Prix, having already fared better than last year. They have 89 points from 16 rounds whereas they ended 2011 with 69 points.

The Silverstone-based outfit are eager to better their show from the inaugural edition at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) where Adrian Sutil and di Resta came ninth and 13th, respectively.

"Last year was obviously a difficult race for us. We got just two points out of it. This year we have shown the pace at different kind of circuits and hat makes us optimistic for the race. I have not driven at the circuit so still there is a lot to learn for me. The target is to finish both car in points," said Hulkenberg at the team's first media interaction ahead of the Indian Grand Prix.

The team's reserve last year, Hulkenberg also remained tight-lipped on his expected move to Sauber next year.

Sitting next to the German was di Resta, who too sounded upbeat about the team's chances.

"We are expecting great support at the race. It is a special race as two of the three owners are Indians. Having said that, we should not treat it differently from any other weekend," said the Scot, who is spending his second season with the team.

Force India rivals Sauber and Williams have managed an odd top-three finish while their best result has been fourth in Belgium and Singapore.

"We we would have probably done it (podium) if Narain (Karthikeyan) had not crashed at Singapore. The safety car intervention probably cost us the third place. And things like these make you work harder for that goal. The team is getting closer to it. We are constructively building on our performance. I would have rather have consistent results than a podium in one race and bad finish in the next one," said di Resta referring to his fourth place at Marina Bay Circuit behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

The conversation soon moved to the rivalry between the two. Hulkenberg dislodged di Resta from 12th place in the drivers' standings in Korea and has 45 points, one more than his teammate.

"Well it is quite tight at the moment. But as you can see we get along well off the track," said the duo before sharing their love for Indian food.