Q & A with Vijay Mallya

Vijay Mallya: Last year was not really a true reflection because it was a Spyker car. We could not develop it or do anything. So this is the first true year for Force India in 2009, where we have developed and designed our own car. We always said we hoped to be a good midfield contender this year. So from Australia we have gradually improved and we put on a big update for Valencia, which was successful. We put on another for Spa and from the free practice sessions Giancarlo and Adrian have done well.

Of course I was a little surprised, but it was fantastic to be on pole position, and today to be on the podium is a big bonus and we feel very happy.

Q. Do you feel joy at second or do you feel it is a win that slipped away?

VM: Obviously KERS has clearly played a part, otherwise Giancarlo was very quick and right on his tail. Less than one second behind. But I am happy, I don't want to get too greedy and I think we should all be very proud of our performance today.

Q. Part of the Mercedes deal meant you were supposed to get KERS by the German Grand Prix, if that had happened would you have won the race today?

VM: KERS was part of the package offered to us and we elected not to take it, rightly or wrongly. But nevertheless we are very pleased with the result.

Q. How nervous were you at the end of the race?

VM: I certainly has some palpitations. Luck hasn't been on our side until today. We have been in definite point scoring positions at least three times this season and for one reason or another we were knocked out. But today we vindicated ourselves, we not only got a podium, we got the points finally, so I am feeling pretty good about that.

Q. Giancarlo has had motivation problems this year, why was he so fired up this weekend?

VM: At the end of the day when a driver sees a car that he now has confidence in, that he sees the team is giving him a machine that is constantly improving, he feels motivated. He has been feeling very motivated since Bahrain when we first put the interim diffuser on. He has been telling me that now he is getting the feeling that now the car actually is improving. All of last year I can understand if the drivers were somewhat frustrated because the engineering head we had in those days was promising improvement, but it was not coming through. Today it is for them to see and feel. Minus a good car he wouldn't be on pole and wouldn't have a podium today.

Q. What is your date to secure the future of the team?

VM: I don't see what is the correlation between the result and the future of the team. The sponsor is 95% me, so if I'm happy, everybody is happy!