31 Oct 2012

Dr Mallya looks back on the Indian Grand Prix and sums up the mood with three races to go.

Dr Mallya, the team scored points for a second consecutive year in India. Were you satisfied with eighth place?
Absolutely – given where we qualified and the cars ahead, I think we did well. It was the maximum we could hope to achieve. Nico overtook a lot of people on the first lap and it was a very good performance by him. He’s a very talented young man. Paul was not very happy with the car on Friday or Saturday and it never really got any better. He did the best he could but it took a lot of time for his tyres to come in and that’s what we’ve struggled with all weekend.

The team scored points for a sixth consecutive race. Is it encouraging that the car is competitive at every type of track?
It is very encouraging. But as encouraging as the eighth place finish at home is, it’s also disappointing that we were not in Q3 with both the cars on Saturday. I think that in terms of competitive performance we’ve come a long way and we are a genuine Q3 contender. To qualify only 12th and 16th was a bit of a disappointment.

What did you make of the Indian Grand Prix second time around - were you pleased with the improvements?
This year all those little teething problems from last year had been fixed. The rough edges have been smoothed and as an overall package I think it has got to be one of the best tracks in the world now.

Can you still catch Sauber in the championship?
We have 93 points in the bag, but we are still 23 short of Sauber. It’s a big task to catch them, but anything can happen. We’ve finished fourth twice and we were very close to a podium in both of those races. If we get a bit of luck in the last three races we might be able to make it up. 23 points is not uncatchable.

Nico Hülkenberg will be leaving the team at the end of the season – have you enjoyed working with him?
It has been a pleasure to have Nico with us for the last couple of years. At the end of 2010 we identified him as a star of the future and it has been rewarding to watch him develop his racing skills. Together with Paul he has done a brilliant job for us, helping the team score more points than ever before and giving 100% commitment every weekend. We would like to thank him for all his hard work and wish him well for the future. With three races remaining this season, we know Nico will remain totally committed and continue to deliver his best performances for the team.

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