Force India: Germany not a one-off

German driver Adrian Sutil had his most competitive outing of the season at the Nurburgring, running as high as second before his race was ruined when he made contact with Kimi Raikkonen.

After that showing, Mallya believes the team will be able to keep its momentum going into this weekend's race in Hungary.

"I am confident that Germany was not just a one-hit wonder for us," said Mallya. "We always said the first few races would be compromised by the late signing of the McLaren and Mercedes deal but since then we've been introducing new upgrades and each one has been a step forward.

"We had hoped that this progress would be reflected in Silverstone, but due to events on track, we couldn't show the full potential. In Germany this is what you saw.

"Over the course of the season so far we've calculated we've improved by something like 1.7 seconds, which I don't think any other team has done. It's been done by solid hard work and not just getting lucky."

Mallya also reckons it's just a matter of time before Force India scores its first points of the season.

"I genuinely think that we are Q2 contenders for the rest of the season, and with Hungary being a circuit where qualifying is so crucial, we're in with a shot of a good finish," he added.

"We're so close to points we can almost touch them. It has to be soon."