Sunday: Hülkenberg Sends Force India to Seventh Heaven
Despite a mediocre qualifying, Force India is all smiles after the Japanese Grand Prix, thanks to Nico Hülkenberg's performance securing seventh place after a very successful start. For Paul di Resta, however, the start went badly due to an accelerator issue, which greatly compromised his race.
Nico Hülkenberg – 7th:
« If you had told me before the race that I would finish seventh, I would have signed with both hands, so I’m very happy with the result. I got a great start, overtook many cars, and was able to escape the problems of the first corner. At the end of the first lap, I was already eighth, and it turned out that we had a good pace. The car was strong throughout the race: the balance was good, and I was able to follow Lewis and Kimi and put pressure on them. They took the lead towards the end, and in the last laps, I just had to make sure to stay ahead of Maldonado. So, another seventh place, it’s a well-deserved result for the team after a difficult weekend for the mechanics and six important points for the championship.
Paul di Resta – 12th:
« A grueling race for me. Things went wrong during the formation lap when I had an accelerator problem, so it wasn’t a big surprise that I had a poor start. Going into turn 1, I was almost at the back of the pack, so I was able to stay out of trouble and avoid the accidents in front of me. But when you lose so much ground at the start, it’s difficult to come back. I was always in traffic and, without running in clean air, I couldn’t really show the car’s potential. We weren’t too far off with the setup, but I never really found the right rhythm during the race. I hope to go to Korea and bring back some points. »
