Along with Silly Season, many teams start to decide on their dedication to the remainder of the year or should they focus on next year. As several teams have started to announce their focus change, Force India has joined the chorus of others who will now focus on their 2009 effort. Team owner Vijay Malya said:
“At the start of the season in Melbourne we were right up there, and competing with Honda and Williams and Toro Rosso,” said Mallya on Tuesday about their season so far.
“We achieved a 12th place, an 11th place, a 10th place finish, and we were running fourth in Monaco. Then suddenly everything has gone a bit flat, and the gap increased, so clearly the others made more progress than we did.
“Then we introduced the Silverstone package, which has given us a catch up, so we are back to where we were. Now we have some more small modifications coming for Hockenheim, which we’ve tested this week.
“We’re also the only team that doesn’t have a seamless shift gearbox, and that’s a couple of tenths any way you look at it. When we have that, that is where we need to really push.
“That’s all the significant modifications we have left for this year, because if I keep on hammering the team to produce better results this season, I’ll compromise 2009, which is a huge opportunity.
“Trust me, I’m putting my heart, soul, money and a lot more into 2009, and I intend to be right there!’
I wonder if the 2009 focus includes Sutil or Fisi?
