Another disappointment for Sahara Force India in China

Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Perez had a very good start. They managed to take advantage of the domino effect in front of them to be 4th and 5th at the end of the first lap. The German driver’s start was all the more remarkable as a three-place penalty had relegated him to 13th on the grid: « As the lights went out, I flew from 13th to 5th, overtaking one car after another. »

But once again, the safety car ruined Sahara Force India’s strategy. Just like in Australia, it arrived at the wrong time for both drivers. Especially since both drivers were following each other. Nico Hülkenberg then tried to save time by significantly slowing down at the pit entry, allowing Sebastian Vettel to overtake two cars at once: « The safety car destroyed all this good work because I had to wait behind Checo and I fell back in the standings. »

The stewards then gave him a five-second penalty for driving too slowly: « The penalty cost us even more but it didn’t make much difference to my result: the rules say you shouldn’t slow down. But in the heat of the moment, it’s hard to gauge if it gives you an advantage. »

Then, being in the heart of the pack, his tires did not have the expected lifespan: « The bad air hindered us. We had faster cars overtaking us and that destroyed my tires. In fact, tire degradation was the main story of the day, and we seem to have suffered more than others, which explains why I fell back in the second half of the race. »

Similarly, Sergio Perez, who was third when the safety car came onto the track, was once again unable to finish in the points: « We had some great battles during the race and we fought well, but the points slipped away from us in the last part of the race. I think we chose the right strategy and made the right decisions, but the race did not go our way. It is also clear that we need to keep working to come back stronger in the next races. »