Force India can't end 2017 development despite "healthy lead"

With no significant rule changes for next season, all teams can continue developing their 2017 cars for as long as they dare before switching their R&D focus fully to their new models, as any work they do now will still have relevance.

The team has established a solid advantage over its main rivals, currently led by Toro Rosso and Williams, but Mallya is taking nothing for granted.

"It is a healthy lead as of now, but the difference between this midfield is so small," Mallya told Motorsport.com.

"We intend to race hard and develop hard. We've got a healthy lead, and we're going to do everything we can to hang on.

"There is absolutely no option. We knew from last year that with the radical changes in design of the 2017 cars that development would have to continue right through, non-stop, and we'd carry on the development through the winter because everything will carry over into next year.

"Last year there was very little choice but to stop development, unless you were a big team that could afford to run parallel programmes.

"It was inevitable that we had to start designing the 2017 cars midway through 2016, so obviously we had to give up our development. But the car was strong enough to bring us home on fourth position."

Mallya believes there is more to come from the car.

"This car is not really where we hoped it would be, but we're fixing that, and development is continuing at a fast pace.

"Once we find the fix for the problems that we have identified with the car right now I think we should be even more competitive. I'm looking forward very much to the rest of the season."