A seemingly safe fifth in the constructors' standings, Force India is just 19 points behind Williams. Whilst the temptation might be to introduce more updates in a bid to overtake the Grove outfit, Vijay Mallya says the challenge and promise of the new regulations in 2017, not to mention limited resources, makes this impossible.

"This was a tough decision indeed," Mallya told the official F1 website. "You are always tempted to keep on developing when you are on a high. But you cannot compromise your future.

"2017 is a unique opportunity, as it is not a carryover from 2016," he continued, "and therefore, to be practical, you must devote time and resources to the 2017 car. That's what we've done.

"We brought a new front wing to Silverstone," he added, "but we still need to further optimise it. There is some work in progress on the rear wing and the rear suspension, those things will continue to be optimised in the course of the season. But we are done with the aerodynamic development in the wind tunnel, that has all now been shifted to the 2017 car.

"The target obviously is to catch Williams," he admitted. "Nineteen points ahead should be manageable when you consider what Force India bagged in Silverstone.

"Of course, a good result in Austria would have blended in perfectly, but we have to focus on what is and not on what could have been. Having said that, we are also not blind to the other side. Toro Rosso is improving. We cannot take them for granted. At some races they've come very close and sometimes they've finished ahead of us, so we have to be on our toes."

Asked to explain why his team is doing so well, likely to achieve its 2015 career best finish of fifth in the standings, Mallya said: "First and foremost, because in the last 18 months a lot of work was put into this team.

"Success is not something that happens by accident, and it is no miracle. It is hard work, making the right investments in the right kind of technology, and a more creative design philosophy. We had a pretty strong second half last year and were able to carry that into 2016 and were able to add good steps of development to the situation. The very intense use of the sophisticated Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne was also a piece of the puzzle. Now as we understand the car and the new updates better, we will optimise it even more and hopefully become even stronger for the rest of the season. In terms of further developments we've now stopped it for the 2016 car, but already have a 60 percent model of the 2017 car in the wind tunnel. It is the first time in the history of this team that we have a 60 percent model. The 2017 regulations give us the opportunity for a brand new design and a whole different input. This will level the playing field for us."

While Sergio Perez has said he will consider his future over the summer break, Mallya once again insisted that the Mexican will partner Nico Hulkenberg next season.

"We will race with the same driver line-up again next season," he said. "This stability is good in the view of the big technical changes."

Asked about the bad luck that has held back Hulkenberg this season, Mallya said: "Luck does play some part. Some things that happened to Nico should not have happened, but that's what you know in hindsight.

"I am very happy with both my drivers," he concluded, "Nico is every bit as good as Checo."