Force India, one of the smaller teams, have made a strong start to the Formula One season. After four races, the team is in third spot in the constructor’s championship and Nico Hulkenberg is in fourth position in the driver’s standings. Huleknberg speaks to Gaurav Kalra about his team’s season so far and their goals. Excerpts:The team has worked extremely hard over the winter and produced a great car. We also have a strong engine partner in Mercedes and it feels like we have utilised our opportunities.The cars are very different, but the same challenges remain as a driver. We have new aero rules this year and the V6 turbo engines, which makes the cars look and sound quite different.The main development job for the driver comes during winter testing. It's important to drive consistently to evaluate changes that are made to the car. You need to be very accurate with your feedback and communicate as much information as possible. You also have to explain what will make the car easier to drive and faster at the same time.At the start of the year, the team said it wanted to improve on last year and so far it's going according to plan. We have 54 points from four races and we are third in the teams' standings. Yes, there is a long way to go, but I believe we can keep up the momentum.The impact of the new rules has been dramatic so far. Can you talk about what difference the new rules have made to Force India? I think new regulations create a reset for all teams. It changes the established order a bit and that is what we've seen this year. I think it has given us a chance to be more competitive than in previous seasons. The team sacrificed a lot last year to concentrate on 2014 and I think it has proved to be a sensible decision.It's impossible to say. Ferrari are strong and Fernando has beaten me in three out of four races, so it will be a tough fight to catch Fernando.It's definitely the goal, but the most important thing is consistency over the year and to make sure we are scoring points at each race.I've always gotten on well with my teammates and Sergio is no different. We don't spend time together away from the track, but we work well together at the track.They were the pre-season favourites and they appear to have a big advantage. I'm sure the other teams will get closer, and we've seen that already, but Mercedes already have a big points lead. It will be difficult to catch them.The factory is working hard to bring more performance to the car. We had some aero parts in Shanghai and the plan is for some more in Barcelona.I've always enjoyed visiting India and we usually go to Mumbai or Delhi a few times during the season. It's a shame there is no race in India because it's a great facility and I always enjoyed racing there.The author is a senior editor at ESPNCricinfo.