Force India encouraged by Bahrain form

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella finished in 15th position, one place ahead of team-mate Adrian Sutil, as the Silverstone-based squad beat Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi and both the BMW Saubers.

"The team has made some very promising progress this weekend," said Mallya. "We've introduced a major new aero package that helped move us forward and we raced fairly and squarely in the midfield.

"Both drivers yet again had very solid races, which shows we have a good foundation for future updates. We can now look forward to Spain and the start of the European season to continue this good form."

Fisichella admitted the race had been very hard for him, especially as he was in pain in the later part.

The veteran racer, however, said he could be pleased with the team's showing.

"It was a really tough race here today," admitted Fisichella. "The temperatures were the hottest we've had this year and I was really in some pain in the closing stages as my seat was rubbing against my right hip. By the end it was very badly bruised.

"All the same I think the first part of the race was very strong and I could race with Webber and Kovalainen and then Piquet. In the final laps Massa got past and there was a little contact.

"I think 15th isn't too bad - we are racing again and I think we can be pleased the overall weekend performance."