Force India pulls out all the stops in Sochi
The Indian team's pink cars had both reached Q3 for the first time this season, and the race result was even better, with Sergio Pérez finishing sixth and Estéban Ocon consolidating their team's fourth position in the championship.
Satisfaction is in order at Force India in Sochi after a strategically well-managed race, concluded in sixth and seventh places, ultimately bringing in substantial points for the championship.
Sergio Pérez describes a rather calm race far from the cars around him and without any real battle: « Today’s race wasn’t particularly exciting for me because I was always alone in clean air, chasing the cars in front and far from the cars behind. So, there was no battle on the track, and I could simply focus on managing my race and bringing home the points. »
The key to securing sixth place in the race lies in an effective team strategy, which was facilitated by Daniel Riccardo’s retirement and the slow puncture suffered by Felipe Massa at the end of the race: « The team did an excellent job with the strategy, waiting for the right moment to bring me into the pits. Once again, we took every opportunity that came our way, and we can feel very happy tonight. »
This fourth points finish in four races satisfies the Mexican driver who perhaps didn’t expect as much: « The sixth place is very satisfying and with Esteban in seventh place, it was a really positive day for the team. We have consolidated our fourth place in the championship and I am seventh in the drivers’ championship, which represents a huge effort over the first four races. »
Finished P7 today awesome job from the team all weekend😁 !!👌🏻#RussianGP #bigpoints #f1 pic.twitter.com/TcZFEmYSNY
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) 30 avril 2017
On the French side, Esteban Ocon is happy with his weekend, which saw him improve in qualifying and get closer to his teammate. He expressed his pride in being part of such a professional team: « It’s great to finish seventh after such a good performance from the whole team. I am very happy with what we have achieved this weekend, we improved every session like never before. From the mechanics to the engineers, everyone did an excellent job and we can be proud. »
The former Manor driver reflects on his race where he lost a few places at the start before regaining them a few corners later. He believes he got the most out of his car with this seventh place finish, having started from tenth on the grid: « I think there was nothing more we could have extracted from the car, the only negative point of the race was my bad start, but I managed to regain those positions before the first lap was over, so everything was fine in the end. »
The native of Evreux draws a very positive balance of the start of the season from both a personal and collective point of view: « Finishing in the points for the first four races is an excellent way to start the season and the best I could have hoped for. We are in fourth position in Barcelona, where we hope to have some upgrades on our car, so that we can be confident for the future. »
