Adrian Sutil hopes he and Force India can go from strength to strength this season

Adrian Sutil reckons there's more to come this season after a comeback performance that saw the Force India driver lead the Australian Grand Prix.

Stopping for the last time on lap 46, Sutil's challenge faded in the closing stages as he was in turn forced on to supersofts and passed by both Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber. "I was fighting for fifth position but I lost it because I was graining at that time," he said. "If that graining couldn't be there, I think I could have finished fifth. "I think we did all right. It was a good strategy; it was a strategy I thought was the best. We all agreed to it." Sutil, whose return to the fray with Force India comes a little over a year after he was convicted of aggravated assault, said his time away from the sport might actually help his performances. "Normally, you expect it takes a little while, maybe a few races. I still believe I can improve myself. This morning in the rain, I wasn't feeling so comfortable - that's where you really need to be at one with the car," he said. "There's more to come. I can improve a little bit but I think my advantage also comes from having been away a little bit and leading a normal life. It's such a stressful sport and sometimes we have no time to learn." With team-mate Paul di Resta also two-stopping his way to eighth place, Sutil believes that Force India can have another strong race in Malaysia next weekend. "We showed that we are absolutely strong enough to score points. I'm always aiming for a podium, for a long time I've wanted to do that. Whenever it comes, I want to be ready. That's a target for this year: maybe it happens, maybe not," he added. "We were seventh and eighth today. Maybe we can be fifth and sixth in the next race, maybe eighth and ninth - we don't know. But points definitely...every race."