• Italian Grand Prix

Mallya wants double points finish

Force India has been battling for points alongside Mercedes in the last three races © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Italian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Paul di Resta
• |
• Vijay Mallya
• |
• Adrian Sutil

• Teams:
• Racing Point

Vijay Mallya is targeting a double points finish for Force India at the Italian Grand Prix following three consecutive top seven results.

Adrian Sutil finished sixth in Germany and seventh in Belgium, while Paul di Resta was seventh at the Hungaroring as Force India has shown improved pace. However, di Resta was heavily affected by first lap incidents at the Nurburgring and Spa, preventing him from challenging for points on both occasions, and Mallya says having both cars in the top ten is the next step.

"The target now is to get both drivers in the points and I'm hopeful Monza will give us a chance to do that," Mallya said. "The VJM04 worked well at Spa and the drivers were happy with the balance in low downforce trim. That's a good sign for Monza where we take another step down on the downforce levels."

Di Resta himself said that he felt the car should work well in Italy, but that its historic strength on low downforce tracks was likely to be less of a factor.

"I'm fairly optimistic that Monza will suit us," Di Resta said. "In the past we were very strong there, but we have a different philosophy now and the car has worked well on all circuits. It's going to be another close midfield fight but I believe we can come away with some points." Sutil explained why the VJM04 was less likely to have a straight-line speed advantage, but said that the cars consistent competitiveness gave him confidence.

"I think our car is more consistent on all tracks rather than just being strong on the quick circuits," he said. "Also, because everyone is now using DRS and KERS, the advantage of our straight-line speed is not so significant. It's still a fast car, but we were seventh in Hungary on a high downforce circuit and got the same result in Spa on a low downforce circuit. So it's a very consistent car now and I expect a good race at Monza."

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