Force India has high hopes for Turkish Grand Prix

New Delhi, May 6 (UNI) On a high after their first top ten finish at the last event in Spain, the Force India Formula One team now heads to Istanbul for round five of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship - the Turkish Grand Prix, to be held from May 9-11.

The team has high hopes of sustaining this momentum for the remainder of the season.

Chairman and managing director, Force India, Vijay Mallya said, ''Nothing is a better feeling at this stage in the season than a top 10 result. We've been in the sport for five months, and it's a feeling that makes us believe in ourselves and confirm that we're making progress. We shouldn't underestimate this achievement- this team was getting better all the time last year, however, regular top 12 finishes were something of a rarity. I hope this year we can make it a permanent trend.

''To do so we need to look at our qualifying so we start higher up and can take full advantage of the car's potential now. Once more in Spain we showed well in practice but seemed to lose it in qualifying, but I have every confidence that we'll isolate the reason and move on.

''Again, Giancarlo had a very strong race in Spain and completely vindicated our decision to take him on at the start of the year. On a faster track in Istanbul that should suit us more, I think there is more to come too. For Adrian, he was very unfortunate, but I am sure that his luck will turn, as luck does. He's got a lot of talent, he's quick, and I think he can do a good job for us. What we have to remember is that Giancarlo is approaching his 200th Grand Prix, Adrian has competed in just over 20, that's a tenth of the number of his team mate. Together, however, I think we have a very strong pairing and are exactly where we should be at this stage in the season.' The driver of car 21, VJM01/05, Giancarlo Fisichella said, ''We are doing better than we expected at the moment, as apart from Australia, we have finished every race in the top 12. We are still a young team but everyone is getting more confident with every race and getting in the top 10 in Spain was our best finishing position of the year so far.'' ''The car balance was good and our second stint in the race was particularly encouraging. We need to improve in qualifying now as we had some problems with reduced grip and had to do two flying laps, which isn't ideal. We have spent a lot of time analysing why the performance drops from practice to qualifying and I am hopeful we will not have the same problems again in Turkey. Of course at the moment the field is so close that one tenth of a second can mean the difference between Q2 and just missing out, so we have to make sure we are completely on top of the game,'' he said.

''I enjoy Istanbul and have had some good results there, including a 4th in 2005. It's a very challenging track with some nice high-speed sections that are difficult to get right. It is going to be a tough race but once again we need to keep pushing. The car is very reliable and, if we get qualifying right, we could be up there again in the top 10 and ready to take advantage and pick up points if anything happens in front,'' Fisichella added.

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