Struggling Force India relying on 'unpredictable' Monaco GP

Monte Carlo: Force India team boss Vijay Mallya is banking on the unpredictability of the Monaco Grand Prix to score some points over the weekend.

"Although we struggled for outright pace in Barcelona, the unpredictable nature of Monaco could help us spring a surprise. It's a track where we've been successful in the past (fifth places in 2013 and 2014) and I believe we can do something special again this year," said Mallya ahead of the race.

"The softer tyre compounds suit the VJM08 and we have two drivers who adore racing in Monaco. We must also be ready to make opportunistic strategy calls from the pit wall."

Force India have been struggling to compete with their mid-field rivals in the five races so far and are eighth in the team standings with 11 points. With no significant upgrade expected until the July 5 British Grand Prix in Silverstone, it is more about limiting the damage for Force India than matching the pace of the rivals.

Mallya, however, expressed optimism ahead of Sunday's race.

"Before the Spanish Grand Prix I said the priority was to keep in touch with the midfield teams until we bring more performance to the car. It's encouraging to see that we are just eight points away from fifth place in the standings and hopefully we can add more points to our tally this weekend. One area we need to improve is our qualifying speed so that we can take advantage of our race pace, which has been much more competitive," he added.