The team principal of the Sahara Force India F1 Team, Vijay Mallya, feels the Monaco Grand Prix is ‘a great opportunity’ for his team to get back amongst the points paying positions.
The Circuit de Monaco has traditionally been kind to Force India with last season being the first since 2009 where a Force India car has not been in the points, with 2016 seeing Sergio Pérez finish on the podium. Mallya acknowledges the luck that is required round the streets of Monte Carlo.
“Monaco is always a great opportunity to score good points,” said Mallya. “Both Sergio and Esteban love the track and historically we’ve been competitive on street circuits.
“You sometimes need the luck to go your way, which didn’t happen last year, but that’s part of the unpredictable challenge of Monaco.”
Force India brought updates in the past races and Mallya believes the team can begin to kick on in the European part of the season.
“The car is getting better with each race,” said Mallya. “The updates in Spain took us a step forward and there is more to come. After five races it feels like we have some momentum behind us now.
“It’s also worth remembering that in 2016 after five races we had scored fewer points than we have now [14 vs 18]. It’s a reminder of how quickly things can change in Formula 1. There is a long way to go.”
