A double points finish at Spa-Francorchamps was exactly what Force India needed and the team will be confident of scoring more points ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

The Belgian Grand Prix saw Adrian Sutil finishing the race in a superb fifth place and Vitantonio Liuzzi coming home in tenth to score a much needed point.

Force India are now 18 points clear of Williams in the Constructors and Vijay Mallya’s team will be looking to strengthen their hold on 6th place at Monza.

Confidence

Both Sutil and Liuzzi will have been relieved to have finished in the Top 10 at Belgium after two disastrous Grands Prix for the team.

Everyone associated with Force India will be hoping that this result spurs the team on and that they can build on their performance at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Force India’s straight line speed at Spa was phenomenal and with Monza being another high speed track, the team could be in for yet another strong weekend.

Adrian finished 4th at last year’s Italian Grand Prix and the German will be looking for a repeat performance.

Pressure

It’s fair to say that finishing 10th at Spa was a much needed result for Tonio Liuzzi. Had Jaime Alguersuari not been given a penalty, then Liuzzi would have finished outside the points.

Throughout the season there has been speculation about Liuzzi’s future at Force India and him being the first casualty of the 2010 season.

Up until the Belgian Grand Prix, Vitantonio’s last points finish was at the Canadian Grand Prix so it was vital he finished in the Top 10 at Belgium.

With the next Grand Prix being Tonio’s home race, I’m sure the Italian will want to put in a strong performance in front of his home crowd.

The next six races could determine whether Liuzzi remains at Force India next season. It is pivotal that Vitantonio scores points on a regular basis from now till the end of the season to stake his claim for a 2011 race seat with the team.

Shock on the cards

Force India have proven that on any given day, they can compete with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari. Personally for me it would not be a surprise if it were to happen this weekend.

Qualifying will be crucial and both Renault and Force India could spring one or two surprises at Monza. I can certainly see Robert Kubica among the front runners yet again.

We know that the speed of the VJM03 in straight lines is supreme so there is no questioning how quick the car is. The question is how close can Sutil and Liuzzi get to the front row in qualifying?

If Adrian can put the car on the front row like he did last year, then could Force India be on the top step of the podium come the end of Sunday? Anything can happen and stranger things have happened.

We saw in qualifying at Canada that Tonio is capable of springing a surprise. Could he do it this weekend? Absolutely.

Who would have predicted Sebastian Vettel would win the Italian Grand Prix in 2008 in a Toro Rosso? Yes the weather did play its part but for Vettel to put a Toro Rosso on pole and then totally dominate the race was unbelievable.

I admit it is a long shot that Force India will take its maiden victory this weekend but you never know. Never say Never.

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