Force India promises more from 2009
Force India's technical director James Key that 'there is a fair bit more to come' from the team in the final part of the 2009 Formula 1 season as it continues to chase its first points finish
The team has come close to scoring on a number of a occasions this season, particularly in Germany where Adrian Sutil looked set to finish in the points until a collision with Kimi Raikkonen forced him out of contention.
But in an interview on the team's website, Key says while the team expects to improve further this year, it is crucial it pounces on chances when they occur.
"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 added that with the field so competitively set in 2009, combined with all the teams' rapid rate of development, optimising qualifying potential has become 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."
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