After what had been an unusually mediocre weekend for the Sahara Force India Team, both Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finished in the top ten of today’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Perez only just managed to best his team-mate, and completed the race in eighth place, just behind a storming Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr..
Neither of the Force India’s made it into Q3 in yesterday’s qualifying session, and thus it seemed that they would struggle around the Hungaroring, but after a strong start for both of the drivers, they safely made their way up the field, benefitting from Daniel Ricciardo‘s premature retirement from the race.
“I’m very pleased to come away with eighth place today,” commented Perez. “It hasn’t been an easy weekend in terms of my feeling with the car, so to turn things around in the race and pick up some points is a good recovery. “I made a very good start, positioned my car well and that was very important for the final result. There was a bit of contact with my teammate, which damaged my front wing, but fortunately it didn’t change the balance of my car.”
Avoiding any drama, Perez had a relatively easy race – not close enough to challenge Sainz but far enough ahead of Ocon and Stoffel Vandoorne.
“It wasn’t the busiest race for me because I spent most of the afternoon behind Sainz and Alonso, but we couldn’t make our way through during the pit stop window due to a slow stop. Overall it’s been a very strong first half of the season and we can go into the holidays feeling pleased with the job we have done.”
