Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher have said that the team is expecting to be nearer the front than in previous races.
Rosberg was 6th and 4th in the two practice sessions in India.
"We learned a lot in the two practice sessions today and found some good set-up directions, so it was a decent day. Fourth place is not our realistic position at the moment but I am confident that we're looking a little better here than at the previous two races", he said.
Schumacher was slightly behind his younger compatriot, but agrees that prospects for the race are good.
"We had two sessions today where we worked mainly on long runs and the performance was reasonable by the end of the day", he said. "The car balance was ok, particularly in the first sector with the slower corners, and as such confirmed the performance that we expected from the circuit characteristics. With the soft tyres, I didn't really get a lap together, but we managed to build a basis to work on for the rest of the weekend."