Reliability pays off for Force India in Melbourne
Despite all the delays accumulated during the winter, Sahara Force India demonstrated its reliability by achieving a double points finish on the Albert Park street circuit in Melbourne. A nice reward for Vijay Mallya's team.
Qualified in 14th position, Nico Hülkenberg managed to take advantage of incidents and race events to gradually climb up the hierarchy and finish this first Grand Prix of the season in 7th place.
“I am very happy with this result, and starting the season with both cars in the points is always something positive,” explains Hülkenberg. “It was a good race. I didn’t make any mistakes and the reliability of our car allowed us to take advantage of the others’ problems.”
At this stage of the season, it’s important to seize every opportunity. We will be ready when it counts. We had a good strategy and we withstood the pressure well. In terms of performance, we’re not there yet, but we’re working hard to make the car faster.
On his side, Sergio Pérez had a much more eventful race than his teammate. Engaged in a long battle with Jenson Button, the Mexican lost precious seconds by getting tangled up with his former teammate. Nevertheless, he finished the race in 10th position and secured a valuable point.
“This was one of those races where a lot of things happen,” explains Pérez. “I am happy, however, to score a point and to see that Nico was also able to score points for the team.”
« We had a different strategy with Nico to maximize the team’s chances. So I started on medium tires to benefit from the soft tires at the end of the race. Unfortunately, the FIA asked me to let Ericsson pass again after the safety car period, and I also had to let Button pass in the maneuver. »
Button had the soft tires, and even if I was faster, it was difficult to overtake him and I lost a lot of time on the track. Now, I focus on the positives since the team achieved a good result.
