Force India's deputy team principal Bob Fernley says the squad has completed its rebuilding phase and is now ready to try and chase Formula 1's top squads.
The Silverstone-based team is commencing its fifth season in its Force India guise, and is aiming to improve on last year's sixth-place finish in the constructors' championship, when it came within four points of beating Renault to fifth. Force India launched its new VJM05 at Silverstone on Friday, with a clear aim of breaking into the top five in the championship this season.
"I think the team now has gotten to a position where the reconstruction plan has really come to the fruition of its objectives," said Fernley. "We have to look for where we can go to compete with the top four or five. That's another program and that's what we're discussing."
Fernley admitted that last year's strong performance had raised expectations.
"I don't think Vijay will accept anything less than fifth [in the constructors' championship]," he said. "I was pleased we didn't finish fifth [in 2011] in some ways, because then [the target] would've been fourth...
"It's going to be tough. All the teams out there are capable of fifth, and I think the battle for fifth place is going to be as exciting as the battle at the top. All the teams have got talented people who are just as focused as we are and it's not going to be an easy ride by any means."