Brazil GP: Hülkenberg executes strategy well to finish in the points
The two drivers of the Force India team started outside the top 10 today in Brazil, but while Sergio Perez was unable to make his way up, Nico Hülkenberg succeeded and finished in 8th place.
Starting outside the top 10, Nico Hülkenberg still hoped to finish in the points at the Autodrome José Carlos Pace, and the German driver achieved his goal, even having the luxury of leading the race for several laps.
« It was a pretty cool and very satisfying race finishing 8th. With a three-stop race, you are constantly attacking, but my race wasn’t too complicated and I was alone for most of the afternoon. I also had some nice battles and it was fun. […] The team made the right choices with the strategy and we maximized our performance with the tires in these hot conditions. I finished behind the two Ferraris, but maybe with one or two more laps, I could have finished 6th instead of 8th, but that’s racing, » explained the Force India driver at the end of the race.
Sergio Perez started in 18th position and hoped to climb up during the race, but it didn’t go as planned for the Mexican who was penalized during the race and could only manage a final 15th position: « It was a tough race and things didn’t go my way all weekend. With the track time lost on Friday and the grid penalty yesterday, we knew it would be difficult to make up for lost time. I did my best to fight throughout the race, but I lost positions with my 5-second stop and go and found myself stuck in traffic for most of the afternoon. […] So it was a disappointing weekend. »
Vijay Mallya, the boss of the Sahara Force India team, was delighted with the Brazilian GP despite a contrasting race for his two drivers: « It was an interesting race for us and I think we were involved in a lot of overtaking! Nico delivered a very good performance, making the most of an alternative strategy and bringing back important points. The only regret is that if the race had been a few laps longer, he could have finished several places higher. Checo had work to do after his grid penalty; he got off to a good start and seemed capable of gaining a few positions, but in the end, his 5-second penalty destroyed all the work he had done in the first part of the race. »
