MUMBAI: Sahara Force India has ended its most successful season ever, coming in fourth in the Formula One Constructors Championship and its drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon ending the season in seventh and eighth place respectively.
Force India scored ten points in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Perez ending the season in seventh place ahead of Esteban Ocon in eighth – both in Sunday’s race and their drivers’ championship positions.
An elated Robert Fernley, deputy team principal, noted: “We’ve ended the year as we started it with both cars firmly inside the points. Seventh and eighth places bring our points tally to 187 to sign-off our most successful season ever. As we’ve said before, the credit needs to go to each and every one of the 400 team members who have contributed to this achievement, as well as the support of our commercial partners.
“It’s nice to end the season on a positive note ahead of a busy winter finalising the new car for 2018.”
Fernley’s comments were further validated by UK’s Telegraph in its analysis of how the teams stacked up in terms of track performance this season.
Interestingly, it is not the all conquering British Brackley based Mercedes that has won the best performing team accolade.
That award has gone to none other than Force India, which earned a 9/10 for its performance as a team while Mercedes came in second with an 8/10.
As the Telegraph noted: “Everyone appreciates an underdog and when they are as talented as Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, it is even easier to cheer for them.
“There were some tricky moments earlier in the season when they collided in Spa. It was the second time there had been an incident between the two after both cars were damaged in Baku. The team had initially said that they could race each other; but after two situations in five races they had to put their foot down and give the lead car the preference during races.
“It is unlikely that they will get the points to really challenge Red Bull Racing, but they are definitely the best of the rest and the team anyone outside of the top three should aspire to become.”
