Force India (63) trail Sauber (100) by a huge 37 points margin but team principal Vijay Mallya has not lost hopes of retaining their sixth place.
"There have been various moments where they've drawn away and we seemingly can't catch them, but all it takes is a podium finish that brings in a lot of points, and if we get a couple of them, we could still chase them down," Mallya said as his team prepares for Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.
Force India lead Williams by just nine points but Mallya said, "Two years ago Williams got us by one point in Brazil, so every point does matter."
Nico Hulkenberg, who achieved his career-best result at Spa, Belgium, said racing on a street circuit under lights would be challenging in Singapore.
"For me Singapore is the toughest race of the year
