Budget main obstacle to Force India performance

Force India chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer says the team has the structure to challenge closer to the front of the F1 grid but will need additional funds to do so.

2015 proved to be Force India’s best year in F1 as it secured fifth place in the constructors’ championship for the first time in its history. The team saw a clear improvement in performance as a result of the introduction of its B-spec car in the middle of the year and was only beaten by Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams and Red Bull.

With Szafnauer having already told F1i the team will analyse whether beating Williams or Red Bull is a realistic target for 2016, he says getting a bigger budget for car development is Force India’s next aim.

“I think the next level for us to have some more discretionary income to be able to spend on development,” Szafnauer told F1i. “It’s that simple. So we’ve got to do a better job at maybe attracting further sponsorship, just having that discretionary income.

“Everybody’s got to spend X amount to go racing and pay the staff and this and the other, but that discretionary income is what we need to enhance and if we do that then we’ll put more performance on the car.”

Asked if he feels such a target is attainable with the team in its current state or if major changes are needed to allow Force India to challenge further up the grid, Szafnauer replied: “I think we can do that. There’s still more to come.”

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