Sunday: additional points for Force India thanks to Hülkenberg
Mixed fortunes within the Sahara Force India team with a fine 8th place for Nico Hülkenberg and a disappointing result for Paul di Resta. While the German driver fought in the points throughout the race, his Scottish teammate struggled with tire management and ended up in a sad 15th place after two pit stops and a small off-track excursion.
Nico Hülkenberg – 8th:
Another tough race, but it’s very rewarding to have so many good battles and score another four points. I think we got the most out of the car and we can be happy with what we achieved. In the early laps, we looked really strong, but after lap ten, the tires started to fall apart. When we switched to hard tires, we weren’t so competitive, so it was just a matter of pushing hard to stay in the points. The last laps weren’t easy because I was under pressure with the two Williams cars that were very fast in the first sector. They had the DRS advantage and it wasn’t easy to keep them behind me. But I managed to stay ahead.
Paul di Resta – 15th:
I got off to a good start and in the early laps, we were in a pretty strong position to move forward with good lap times. Maybe we waited too long before pitting because I became vulnerable to Senna after my stop and was struggling with cold tires. I couldn’t keep Senna behind me and then I had the same situation with Maldonado. I was battling a lot of oversteer in the car and made a mistake on lap 19, lost the rear and spun. I was just pushing a bit too hard to keep the cars behind me. That gave me some flat spots on my tires, and I had to pit a second time. From there, it was difficult to fight because it was clearly a one-stop race.
