Force India continues its rise

For the first time since Bahrain in 2014, Force India brought its two cars into the top 5. An excellent overall result for Vijay Mallya's team, which confirmed in the race its performances seen in qualifying on Saturday in Belgium.

Taking advantage of the melee of the first turn involving the Red Bull RB12 Max Verstappen and Ferrari by Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel, Nico Hulkenberg quickly found himself in second position behind leader Nico Rosberg (Mercedes). A position that the winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2015.

“We are here to take advantage of opportunities and score big points. Unfortunately, the red flag cost me dearly, because everyone was able to regroup, explains the German. The restart went well and everything was under control for the rest of the race. I just had to manage my pace and preserve my tires.

There was a battle with Fernando Alonso exiting the pit lane, but we managed to stay ahead and keep fourth position. Maybe if things had gone a little differently we could have been on the podium » Hülkenberg thus equals his best career result with this 4th place in Belgium, but is still waiting for his first podium.

A position coupled with the fifth place of Sergio Pérez which above all allows Force India to seize fourth place in the Constructors' championship against Williams, appeared in difficulty on the Ardennes route.

This position against the Grove team confirms the good performances of the VJM09 since Monaco. “Everyone in the team did a great job and we can now celebrate a great race, comments Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal.

We can be a little disappointed, too, because without the safety car and the red flag, Nico could have been on the podium. But, considering the way the race went, we can be satisfied with the result.

We are now in fourth place in the championship, having scored 89 points since Monaco, but we are not going to let our guard down. There is still a long way to go and the battle in the middle of the pack will tighten up. »

Discover the report and analysis of the Belgian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents at Spa-Francorchamps, in issue 2078 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version, and this Wednesday on newsstands.