Force India enjoying fight with McLaren

At the start of the season Force India would not have been expecting to be competing with McLaren.

McLaren went into the 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship as the form team, they had ended the 2012 season with the fastest car and were expected to be battling for consistent podiums, race wins and the title.

But instead it has been a poor season for Jenson Button and Sergio Perez and both drivers have been out of the title picture following a poor start.

Button remains ninth, whilst Perez is twelfth.

That had previously seen Force India lead McLaren in the constructors championship as recently as the Belgian Grand Prix and are still just five points behind in chase for fifth place.

‘It is going to be a close fight, but the good news is that McLaren still aren’t that far ahead, They only scored one point in Monza, so they are definitely catchable. We need to perform better ourselves, that’s very clear. We’re working hard to find more performance, but at the same time we’ve made it quite clear that we will not compromise next year’s programme. It’s always a balancing act, but we know what we need to do.’ Force India Team Principal Vijay Mallya told Sky Sports.

While Force India are looking ahead to attempt to take one of the big scalps in McLaren, Force India are also aware of the battle behind them with Toro Rosso 30 points behind.

‘We’ve got to qualify well to give ourselves the best chance of scoring points, We are still close to McLaren in the championship and we need to make sure we keep a healthy margin ahead of Toro Rosso and Sauber.

‘Singapore can sometimes generate surprises and there’s always the risk of rain, so as a team we need to be ready to react quickly and make the most of any opportunities.’