Force India’s aim over the next couple of races is to surpass Williams to secure seventh place in the Constructors’ standings, according to driver Nico Hulkenberg.
The German believes the target is a realistic one given they’re just seven points behind the Grove team, and have in the past proven they’re capable of developing their car further in to the season.
“We already showed last year that our development speed is very competitive and I do not see a reason why we shouldn’t be able to repeat that again,” he told the official F1 website.
“We’re only seven points shy of Williams and I think we can catch them.” Adding that ideally they’d like to pass Sauber too. “I don’t know whether it’s possible to catch Sauber. It will be difficult, but the whole team will try their very best, that’s for sure.”
He admits the team may need to rely on an element of luck if they’re to succeed given how strong Williams and Sauber’s race pace is compared to their own.
“Well, although we improved our car, we have to be realistic,” he added. “Pace-wise we are still behind Sauber, Williams and all the frontrunners. This means, that we have the chance to beat Williams, Sauber or Mercedes when our weekend goes completely smoothly and they struggle.
“In qualifying this happens more often, but in the race they have 50, 60, 70 laps to get their faster cars in front of ours. So our race pace actually shows us where we really are.”
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