15 April,2009 04:05 PM IST | | PTI
Force India would not mind if a point or two falls into its lap but a double finish would be the primary target in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, its drivers said.
Adrian Sutil reckons the VJM02 car, powered by Mercedes engine and McLaren gearbox, would have its best chance when the Formula One caravan shifts to Europe next month.
As of now, the German says, he would be happy bringing his car home while expecting others to make mistakes.
"The aim, as was for the previous races, is to be reliable and get to the finish. This year I've got a 100 percent finish record so far, and I want to keep this up," the German said.
"We've seen that some of the other teams are having problems with KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) and the order is not so fixed at the moment. So if you get to the finish there's a good chance you could do well.
"I think this should be our goal for now -- but when we get back to Europe I want to be racing on merit, not just waiting for something to happen to another driver," he explained.
His senior driver Giancarlo Fisichella had more or less the same view, even though the Italian insisted on better qualification. "The main goal this weekend is to have a clean event without any mistakes, qualify well and to finish the race," Fisichella said.
"I think it's too early to start hoping for points yet, but we need to keep the momentum going and get as much information as possible so when we introduce new parts we can really see an improvement," added the veteran driver.
Two races into the season and both the drivers are optimistic about the car's potentials. "We are closer this year and in general the VJM02 is an improvement from last season's car," Sutil said.
"The balance and mechanical grip is good and it is very fast in a straight line, but at the moment we dont have enough downforce. We do have a much clearer direction though this year -- last year we were struggling everywhere, but this year it's just downforce.
"We need more grip in the corners. I know we have some developments in the pipeline so at this point in the season I am hopeful. The car has potential."
Fisichella shared Sutil's optimism and said, "We are definitely closer than we were last year. For sure qualifying is still a bit of a problem for us, but in Australia we were only a couple of tenths from the World Champion so we can't be too disappointed.
"In the race it's not looking too bad. The balance is good and I have had some nice fights with other cars. We need more downforce now, but we have a clear direction to improve and I think this is really positive," he said.
