Along with Lotus and Sauber, Force India for me are the dark horses this year.

The 2010 campaign gets underway this weekend at Bahrain and Vijay Mallya has every right to be confident that his team can have a positive season.

The team ended on a high last year after a disappointing start and managed to secure their first ever podium at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Both Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi will be expected to be competing for regular Top 10 finishes so there will be pressure on them to deliver. The highly rated Scot Paul Di Resta will be waiting in the wings if neither of them performs well enough.

Potential

Force India have been impressive in pre-season testing and have even topped the timesheets on occasions. If they can carry this form into qualifying come Saturday, then who knows what could happen. They could be in contention for a strong points haul.

Adrian Sutil has always had the potential and has at times been on course to secure massive points for Force India. Sutil will be glad that Kimi Raikkonen will be driving in the World Rally Championship since the Finn had on many occasions ruined his chances of getting vital points!

If the German makes fewer mistakes and can fulfil the potential he has, then he could be in for a very good year.

The Italian Stallion

Sutil’s team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi is another driver who has potential but has not quite fulfilled it yet. Liuzzi has been in Formula One for five years and has not been given many competitive cars to drive.

In my opinion, Tonio did a decent job after Giancarlo Fisichella left for Ferrari after his heroics in Belgium last year and could have so easily got some points for the team had it not been for hydraulic problems in Monza.

This year’s Force India chassis appears to be more balanced and a lot quicker so there are no excuses for both drivers not to perform well.

Liuzzi had an OK car when he was at Toro Rosso but now he really needs to step up to the plate. Now he has a quick, competitive car it is down to the Italian to put in strong performances week in week out.

Prediction

If the team can take their impressive pre-season testing form into the season then Force India could be in for a fantastic year. The team could be the surprise package of the season and if all goes well they may find themselves fighting against the likes of McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull on a regular basis.

Constructors Championship prediction: 6th

Join me and Victoria on Formula1FanCast.com’s Fantasy League Formula 1 2010. Our league is called Formula1Fancast.com and the league pin is 722. Try and beat us if you can, but be warned we’re good!

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