Melbourne was the scene of Force India's first race, and although the gave the team a poor start with both drivers retiring in the first few laps, the following race in Malaysia saw Fisichella's twelfth place earn the team's first finish. After disappointing results in the opening races, Sutil gave the team the chance to score its first points in the wet , but towards the end of the race Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari lost control and hit Sutil's car causing immediate retirement. Although a furious Gascoyne called for Räikkönen to be penalised, overtakes under yellow flag conditions would have meant Sutil receiving a time penalty post-race, dropping him out of points. Continuous updates to improve reliability and performance allowed the team to close the gap to the fastest teams during the mid-season, despite Super Aguri's withdrawal meaning the two cars started from the rear of the grid for the majority of races. A seamless-shift transmission introduced at Valencia marked the end of development for the car; team owner Mallya had realised underinvestment and continued changes of ownership had led the team to fall behind. Force India had been focusing on since Mallya brought the team, believing that the new regulations would yield better results. Despite halting work on the VJM01, Fisichella put his car to a season-best 12th on the grid at the during an extremely wet qualifying session; he was however to crash out during the race. Fisichella continued his good form by reaching second during the Singapore round and fifth at the season-ending ; a safety car before his pit stop prevented points in Singapore, while transmission issues in Brazil left him 18th and two laps down. Force India finished the season tenth place in the Constructors' Championship, and Fisichella achieved the best finish of tenth at the .