Paul di Resta thinks that Force India might be able to stay in front of McLaren in the Constructors' Championship this season.
That has been the case so far in 2013, with Force India placed fifth in the standings ahead of McLaren thanks to a combination of their good form and the Woking team's problems with their own car.
The pace of their VJM06 was underlined by the career-best fifth place di Resta secured on the grid for the British Grand Prix last weekend. The Scot's joy was shortlived after a weight penalty saw him demoted to the back of the grid, but he recovered on race day to claim his seventh points finish of the season with ninth place.
Team-mate Adrian Sutil finished two places higher to extend Force India's lead over McLaren to 22 points. The latter outfit failed to score for the second time in as many races and also said at Silverstone that they're concentrating more of their efforts on 2014.
"Silverstone's probably quite a crucial gauge," di Resta said on Thursday. "It's probably a track we were quite nervous about beforehand; the wings and everything work at their maximum, which is key and that's probably not one of our strongest points. But it was the strongest qualifying we've had all year.
"I think that sets up where we go for the rest of the year. We know our car's normally quite good on low downforce tracks but we know it can equally be good at places like Suzuka.
"[McLaren] didn't seem to make any ground forward, although their race pace was a bit closer to ours.
"I think we've got a very strong chance of staying in front of them at the moment, unless they dramatically change something."
Jenson Button appears to share di Resta's sentiment. Speaking later, the McLaren driver said: "I was riding with him yesterday and I said the same thing to him. I said, 'You guys have got a big advantage on us'. They're doing a really good job.
"We're a lot of points behind them and it is going to be difficult to beat them in the Championship. It's something we've got to aim for - to at least be in the top five."
Source: Sky Sports
...I actually think it's possible!!
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