Robert Fernley believed seventh and eighth was the best result possible for Sahara Force India in the Japanese Grand Prix, especially with the top three teams showing 100% reliability.
The deputy team principal of the Silverstone-based team was happy to see Sergio Perez and Nico Hülkenberg drive strong races, which involved impressive overtaking manoeuvres as both were forced to dispatch the one-stopping Williams drivers.
“We leave Japan feeling satisfied with our performance across the whole weekend,” said Fernley. “We qualified well, which allowed us to execute the optimal two-stop strategy with both cars.
“Seventh and eighth was the most we could realistically hope to achieve given the reliability of the cars at the front of the field, so it’s rewarding to bring home ten important points.
“It was very enjoyable watching Checo and Nico involved in several close fights in the early laps. They pulled off some exciting moves – which were very important because they enabled the strategy to play out in our favour.
“With four races to go, we must maximise our potential at every event because there’s still a long way to the end of the season.”
