Indian GP: Senna believes point shows Williams back on track

Both he and team-mate Pastor Maldonado reported that they were much happier with the car's handling and performance during the 60-lap race, and in Senna's case that resulted in his eighth points finish of the season with tenth place.

"We had a strong car in the race and after a disappointing qualifying yesterday, getting a point means that I am happy with today's performance," said Senna, who started the race from 13th in the grid.

"It was a fun race because I was fighting with cars that were very similar on pace so I had to make my overtaking manoeuvres stick, and so that was very satisfying.

"The car has felt much better this weekend so we will head to the next race with a lot more confidence."

Maldonado, who made it into Q3 with a strong qualifying performance that put him ninth on the grid, also felt that he was capable of finishing in the points.

But he made contact with Kamui Kobayashi and lost a lap recovering the car to the pits with a puncture.

"The car was feeling good today and I was confident that I was going to score points, but my race was effectively over when I was hit and picked up a puncture which put me towards the back and lost me a lot of time," said the Venezuelan, who finished 16th.

"It was a very unlucky race for me in the end, but we can take some positives in the fact that the pace of the car has improved and we should be more competitive for the final three races of the season."