Sunday: Only one point for Force India in Sochi thanks to Perez
Force India returns from Russia with only one point in their bag, thanks to Sergio Perez's tenth place finish in the F1 Grand Prix. Struggling with a car that is not very fast on the straights, Nico Hülkenberg, on his side, experienced a rather difficult race.
Sergio Perez (No. 11) – 10th
As with most drivers, fuel consumption was the crucial point of the race for Sergio Perez: « We did our best to push throughout the race, but obviously the fuel strategy was quite tight, especially because I started the race on medium tires and had to really push to stay in touch with the group of drivers on soft tires. When I was on softs, it was difficult to save fuel because I had to defend against Felipe [Massa] who was behind me for the entire second stint. »
Despite everything, the Mexican brings a valuable point to his team and remains focused on the upcoming Grand Prix races: « It was a very difficult race and a hard-earned point. It was a very tough afternoon but we hope to be in better conditions for the next races. »
Nico Hülkenberg (#27) – 12th
Faced with a single-seater losing a lot of top speed on the straights against his direct competitors, Nico Hülkenberg nevertheless fought to try to achieve a convincing result, in vain: « It was a pretty difficult race for me today. We started quite far back on the grid and had to deal with a lower top speed than the other drivers I was fighting with. We were good in the corners, but we lost ground on the straights, which made overtaking rather difficult, especially on a track like this one. »
He concludes with a bit of disappointment: « We could have finished the race a little higher without this problem. »
