Force India has failed to meet the expectations of team boss Vijay Mallya so far this season after scoring just six points in the first three races.
The team has showed strong pace in qualifying at the opening three races, but accidents in Bahrain and the timing of the safety car in Shanghai means it has just six points from the Australian Grand Prix to show for its efforts.
"In all honesty we expected more from the start of the season, but for various reasons the cards have not fallen for us," team boss Vijay Mallya said. "It's worth making a comparison with 2015 because after three races last year we were in a similar position with seven points -- one point more than we have this year -- and that turned out to be our most successful season ever. With 18 races to go there is a long season ahead and we have plenty of opportunities to turn around our fortunes.
"There is no doubt that we have an inherently quick car. We've always qualified inside the top ten and Checo [Sergio Perez] lined up seventh on the grid in China. In the race we fell a bit short, so that is one area where we can improve. We are also working hard to bring an upgrade package to Barcelona: it's an aero step and further suspension evolutions, which will bring some performance gains."
Mallya said his team is targeting more points in Russia this weekend.
"The objective is to be inside the top ten in qualifying and the race. That's a realistic goal and we will be disappointed if we don't come away with some points. We demonstrated last year that we can be competitive in Sochi and it's also the 100th race weekend for Nico and Checo, so we want to celebrate the occasion with a special result."