Nico Hulkenberg is frustrated with his race as he feels that the team was unable to show their true pace, saying that multiple issues made the race difficult.
“Seventh place brings some useful points, but I finished the race feeling a little bit frustrated because we didn’t have the pace we know is possible”
He continued to add: “I actually think we had a problem with the car and it’s something we need to investigate because I was losing downforce, the car was sliding and the rear tyres were heating up too much, all of which really hurt my pace.”
“The second half of the race was quite difficult defending against Ericsson and that’s when we were considering changing to a two-stop strategy because I was struggling so much with the tyres. In the end, we decided against it and I was able to hang on to seventh place for some important points.”
Deputy Team Principal Robert Fernley also added that both drivers drove to a competitive result and said that 14 points was a good haul for Force India: “To be leaving Monza with 14 points in our pocket completes a very competitive weekend for Sahara Force India. It means we’ve regained the advantage in our battle for fifth place in the standings and gives us a nice boost ahead of the fly-away races. The circuit certainly played to our strengths, but the team has worked incredibly hard this weekend to get both cars home in the points.
“Sergio and Nico both drove very mature races, fighting hard when they needed to and looking after the tyres. Nico was less comfortable with the car, so we will explore those issues, but, all things considered we can feel extremely positive about our performance today.”
