Being confirmed for a full-season campaign with Force India after a part-time schedule last year, the Italian impressed everyone by outpacing his higher-rated teammate Adrian Sutil so far. With the constant pressure of having reserve driver Paul di Resta breathing down his neck, Liuzzi is happy for dissipating some of it after the first couple of rounds.
“I am back and I am ready for big results as long as the car stays together and gives me the possibility. (...) I just want to give back as much as I can to the team because they believed in me,” said Liuzzi in a preview of the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix.
Force India's team owner Vijay Mallya also underlined the importance of Liuzzi's strong performances in the first few races, while admitting that his satisfaction would have been greater had Sutil joined the Italian in a Top 10 finish. However, he is quite confident that his “cars are clearly capable of being in the top 10,” which is what his team aims for in Malaysia.
As far as head-to-head competition goes, Liuzzi reckoned that Renault are the team to beat for 5th place in the manufacturers' classification, especially following their strong result in Australia.
“For us the main competitor at the beginning seemed to be Renault, but now they've made a big step forward. I think it will be our main target to try to catch them in Malaysia to beat them in the championship. For sure it won't be easy because they are a great team and they will develop. But we are working hard back at Silverstone, and working well,” added the Italian racer.
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