Mid-season review – Force India: Ever higher

The important figures

Constructors’ Championship standing: 5th

Pole: 0

Podiums: 2

Victory: 0

Best result: 3rd (Perez: Monaco, Europe)

Best qualification: 2nd (Perez: Europe)

Building on the momentum of 2015

Last year, Force India’s season truly kicked off from Silverstone when the B-version of their car was launched. This allowed them to score points in 10 out of the last 11 races of the season. This impressive streak enabled them to finish in fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, marking the best result in their history.

With regulatory changes being limited for 2016, the team could set clearly ambitious goals for this new season. This confidence was also reinforced by the fact that they continued to have the best engine on the grid, the Mercedes engine, while their rivals faced various challenges: Renault had to rebuild on the ruins left at Lotus, McLaren continued the development of its Honda engine, and Toro Rosso had to make do with a 2015 Ferrari engine.

A solid duo of drivers

Among the team’s strengths, we can also add its driver duo: Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Perez are clearly among the drivers to watch, as the German showcased his full potential with his victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, while Sergio Perez climbed the podium twice over the past two seasons.

Nevertheless, the start of the season was not ideal for the Silverstone team, as in Australia, they had to settle for Nico Hülkenberg’s seventh place, although his strategy was hampered by the red flag caused by the collision between Esteban Gutierrez and Fernando Alonso. The German found himself behind Romain Grosjean, who was driving for the rookie team Haas. The following two races were even worse, as both drivers finished in anonymous 15th and 16th places in Bahrain and Sergio Perez finished just outside the points in China.

The bad streak also continued for two more races for Nico Hülkenberg as he was involved in a collision at the first corner in Sochi and his engine caught fire in Spain. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez was still able to score some minor points in Russia (9th) and Spain (7th).

Two podiums and a front row in four races

But Force India then experienced an impressive series of races. Thus, in Monaco, Sergio Perez managed to make the most of difficult conditions to climb back on the podium. His teammate could have achieved the same performance, especially since he was better qualified, but a poor strategy from his team deprived him of it and he had to settle for the 5th place finish.

If Canada was more complicated (Perez 10th, Hülkenberg 11th), the inaugural weekend in Baku was a true fairy tale for Force India. Indeed, the characteristics of the circuit favoring engine power allowed the team’s Mexican driver to take full advantage, securing second place in qualifying before clinching another third place the following day.

Nico Hülkenberg’s moment of glory came the following weekend in Austria. In changing weather conditions during qualifying, driver No. 27 once again managed to excel, just like during his pole position in Brazil in 2010, and was able to secure the third fastest time of the session. With Nico Rosberg’s penalty, this translated into a second place on the grid. Unfortunately for him, the balance of his car wasn’t there during the race, and he sank to the depths of the standings before being forced to retire due to brake issues.

Williams in the crosshairs

The beautiful series didn’t stop there, as for its home race, the team achieved a nice group finish, with Sergio Perez in 6th place, ahead of his teammate. In Hungary, only the German was able to score points (10th) as he secured another 6th place for his race in front of his home crowd while Sergio Perez snatched the last point at the end of the race.

In this first half of the season, Nico Hülkenberg performed better in seven out of twelve qualifying sessions but had to yield to his teammate in six of the ten races they finished. This explains why the Mexican is in 8th place while the German is in 10th place, trailing his teammate by 15 points.

Over the last five races, Force India has managed to score 39 points. This has sparked even more ambition since, at the same time, Williams has clearly been lagging, scoring only 15 points. The gap between the two teams is now just a mere 15 points. However, McLaren, experiencing a resurgence in form in recent races, could play the role of arbitrator for the gain of this precious fourth place.

This ranking is all the more valuable for the team as it faces the financial and legal difficulties of its two co-shareholders. Its financing plan is therefore more dependent than ever on the revenue generated from its track performances.