Force India were flying high after great results in the Bahrain Grand Prix a few weeks ago. A terrific drive from Nico Hulkenberg in sixth and a spot on the podium in third place for Sergio Perez gave the team great confidence coming into the Chinese GP last weekend. Their positions on the starting grid didn’t look good with Hulkenberg starting eighth and Perez all the way back in 16th but they managed the race beautifully to put both cars in the points for the third time this season.
Hulkenberg battled with Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa for sixth, seventh and eighth on the start. Rosberg went on to improve for a podium in second right behind his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton once again. This was Mercedes’ fourth straight win and Hamilton’s third in succession. Hulkenberg was able eventually to settle in sixth after the first round of pit stops with Massa’s Williams team struggling with his first stop. Starting on the softer tyre gave both Hulkenberg and Perez fits in trying to make the tyres last but switching to the white sidewalls gave them some of the handling relief they needed. Great tyre management from Hulk and sticking with the harder compound meant he was able to stay in sixth and Perez was able to improve dramatically on the harder tyre. Perez came into his first stop P12, already up four places and the new rubber gave him the speed to get past the next three drivers into P9 where he was able to stay.
Now they look ahead to the Spanish Grand Prix where the Force India team is hoping to keep their good drives going. While their past results may not indicate they will be near the top of the field, the new car is playing to their advantage. Staying right in the middle of the points so far, all the other teams hoping for good finishes have to worry about the Force Indias stealing those points from them. They are third in the Constructors’ Championship right now, just three points away from Red Bull and two points ahead of Ferrari. Red Bull should be worried too with both Force India cars taking points in China, where even they didn’t expect to have a great showing, there is a lot of optimism in their camp right now knowing there are plenty of points out there for the taking and knowing their cars and drivers are capable of taking them.
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