Force India target Q2 in Bahrain

The team have made progress in moving off the back of the grid since last year and, having come close to making it through to Q2 in the first two races, are more upbeat about their prospects this time out.

Team principal Colin Kolles said: "I am particularly looking forward to the Bahrain Grand Prix after such a strong showing in the first two races of the year.

"Although the results do not ultimately show the full progress we have made, the improvement we demonstrated in Australia and Malaysia from this time last year emphasises the fact we are heading in the right direction.

"Our aims for this race have to be to get into Q2 and achieve a double finish. This is, I believe, a realistic goal as we have new aero parts for this race that should give another improvement and I am confident we have addressed the reliability issues on Adrian' (Sutil)'s car.

"Giancarlo (Fisichella) did a fantastic job in Malaysia and hopefully should be rewarded with a position in Q2 in Bahrain and a good result on Sunday. Adrian was unlucky in the first two races but I am sure that in this next event he will have the opportunity to show his real potential."

Fisichella, who has been the quicker of the two Force India drivers so far this year, feels that the team can challenge Scuderia Toro Rosso and Honda Racing.

"I think we can also try to get into Q2, but this always depends on us getting the perfect lap and maybe one of the others making a mistake - it's very close racing this year, particularly with Toro Rosso and Honda, and I think this battle will continue for the rest of the season," he said.

"In Malaysia we were fighting hard with these two teams and were very close in lap times, especially with Rubens. I think to beat him we need to have a good strategy, but now we know what we have to do, we can look into it in Bahrain.

"With the race pace we have we can take some risks with the strategies until we know what suits us best. I am looking forward to it."

Team co-owner Vijay Mallya said that he had been delighted by the early showings of the team, proving they were not happy to just make up the numbers in F1.

'When Force India came into the sport just a few months ago, some observers expected us to stay in the same position and just be happy to be on the grid," he explained.

"These last two races have resolutely shown that we are not just in it for the taking part: we want to race competitively. We have done the maths; we have looked at the statistics and have improved by over two seconds from this time last year. This is not a sign of a team just pleased to be here.

"In Malaysia I was delighted to see Giancarlo fighting for 12th position - not just lucking into it at the end of the race thanks to retirements - he was actually able to race with others and win this position by merit. Formula One has never been so competitive and to be able to do this is a sure sign of progress on our part.

"Adrian has been unlucky not to finish the races so far this year so we have not yet seen how much improvement he has made, however I am sure this will be his chance. We are all looking forward to Bahrain now."