London: Encouraged by the brilliant results in the second-half of the 2012 season, Sahara Force India is confident of getting a top-5 finish in the 2013 season.
Force India finished seventh in the constructors` championship behind Sauber although it scored more points than the 2011 season.
Nico Hulkenberg, who will race for Sauber next year, raced extremely well for the side and was even in running for a podium finish at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.
Deputy Team principal Bob Fernley says that they can carry forward the momentum in the next season.
"If you look at the stats, since the summer break, Force India`s the fifth best performing team and Vijay [Mallya] will expect us to start there, it`s as simple as that," he said.
"We have to be very encouraged by the second half of the season. The regulations are stable going into 2013. So apart from the development work you`re going to do over the winter, fundamentally where you`ve finished now is where you start in March. So we have to be to be encouraged, it`s a strong package," Fernley was quoted as saying in the "Autosport" magazine.
He is also confident that the mistakes of the the past two seasons would not be repeated.
"Can we learn something? We`ve had two seasons where we`ve been slow out of the box. It`s caught us out. Hopefully in 2013 that won`t be the case," Fernley said.
To finish fifth means that the Indian team will have to beat both Sauber and Mercedes but Fernley said it was possible.
"Mercedes obviously have a lot of work to do. They have Lewis (Hamilton) going there, so that`s going to be a renewed enthusiasm for what they`re doing. They`re a force to be reckoned with but they`ve got to overcome the back of this season," he said.
"From our point of view we`ve been strong at the end of this season and we want to carry that through to next year."
The 2013 season will kick off with Australian Grand Prix from March 15-17.
PTI
First Published: Friday, December 21, 2012, 18:46