Force India determined to score points in Bahrain

In China, for the first time this season, the Sahara Force India team came away empty-handed. Once again eliminated in Q2, the Force India drivers only had the points in sight during the race without truly being able to hope for collecting them: I don’t think we were too far off in terms of pace but it simply wasn’t enough to come away with points. They were always within sight, and sometimes I was only ten seconds from second place, but without any real incidents ahead of us, it was difficult to get into the top 10, explained Paul di Resta after finishing in 12th place.

Nico Hülkenberg, 15th at the finish in Shanghai, shows the same optimism as his teammate: “I think we demonstrated that we had quite a good race pace, especially in the last third of the race when we were catching up with the main pack, but it was a long way after a difficult first stint,” comments Nico Hülkenberg.

While he recalls that Paul di Resta finished only 22 seconds behind second place and less than eight seconds from the seventh position, Vijay Mallya once again sets points as the target for the Bahrain Grand Prix: « Sakhir will be another test, but it’s a circuit with different characteristics and climate. We scored points there the last time we raced, so we will approach this weekend determined to repeat that performance. »

After reminding that all teams will more or less find themselves in the unknown at Sakhir since none have raced there for two years and no one has had the chance to drive with the Pirelli tires, Paul di Resta believes that it will be necessary to make the most of the changing conditions: “We will have the same car in Bahrain because there are only a few days between the two races, but it is a very different circuit and we expect different weather conditions, so we will try to take full advantage of this.”

For his part, Nico Hülkenberg appreciates the track that offers a nice rhythm and some technical corners, like turns 9 and 10. The German also believes that sand, wind, and brakes will be the keys to success in Bahrain: It’s located in the desert, and sand can be a problem on the track, but it really depends on the strength and direction of the wind. I think the secret to a good lap is not to be too aggressive with braking because you need to maintain good speed in the mid-corner and quickly get back on the throttle to have speed in the straights. Overtaking is possible, especially in the first corner because you can get a good slipstream in the straights.