Sergio Perez: “I’m pleased to confirm that I will be racing with Sahara Force India in 2017 as the team and my supporters have concluded their agreements.

“I’m very happy with this team and I have a good feeling for the future. I’ve seen the progress we’ve made over last couple of years and I’m sure we have the potential to achieve even more going forward. The team knows me well and it’s important to have stability, especially with some big rule changes planned for next year.

“I’m excited for the rest of this season and for the challenge that awaits all of us in 2017. I thank all the team for believing in me and I will do my best repay their faith with points, podiums and hopefully wins. I also want to thank our Mexican partners, especially Telmex and Telcel, who have been supporting me since I was a young boy. They continue to play an important role in my journey through the sport.”

Force India scored 12 points in today’s Malaysian Grand Prix with Sergio Perez racing to sixth place ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in eighth.

Sergio Perez: “It was a solid race for us today, but I think we were a bit unlucky with the way the race unfolded. At the start, things looked very positive: I had a good launch, stuck to the inside line and was up to third after turn one. There were some very quick cars behind me and I knew there was no point in fighting too hard and destroying my tyres.

“The key moment of my race was the first virtual safety car because it handed a big advantage to those who were able to start on the medium tyres, and dropped me down the order when I pitted. To recover back to sixth place was a good effort and we know that every point will count in the fight to finish fourth in the constructors’ championship. I don’t think we made any wrong decisions today, but it was just that the circumstances played more against us and into the hands of others.”

Nico Hülkenberg: “Finishing eighth is a reasonable result, given the circumstances of the race. It was quite a tough afternoon: I made a very good start, but coming to turn one I had to avoid the accident between Rosberg and Vettel and that cost me two positions. Being stuck behind Jenson (Button) cost me a lot of time in the first two stints and I just couldn’t overtake him.

“Losing the track position so early on made it very difficult to finish higher up, despite the speed we had in the car today. I believe our strategy was the correct one for our race, but it’s very hard to overtake here and it just didn’t play out in our favour. All in all, we can be happy about putting two cars inside the points; we have increased our advantage a little and it should help us in what is going to be a very interesting end of the season.”

Nico Hulkenberg

(L to R): Sergio Perez, Felipe Massa and Max Verstappen on the drivers parade.

Nico Hulkenberg

Force India scored seven points in today’s German Grand as Nico Hulkeberg raced to seventh place and Sergio Perez finished in tenth place.

Nico Hülkenberg: Strategy: Used SuperSoft (12 laps) – New Soft (20 laps) – Used SuperSoft (12 laps) – New Soft (23 laps)
“Seventh was probably the best result available to us today, so it feels good to get the maximum from our race and score some important points. The team did a great job with the strategy because we went into the race believing a two-stopper was possible, but then made an early decision to switch to three stops.

“It was definitely the right way to go and allowed me to take seventh place in the final few laps. The tyre degradation was very high so most of the race was about managing the tyres. It was also quite a lonely and straightforward race because my main fight was against Bottas and we were running different strategies.

“So it’s a happy Nico and a happy team. We can look forward to the summer break and aim to carry this momentum forward in the second part of the season.”

Sergio Perez: Strategy: Used SuperSoft (8 laps) – New Soft (19 laps) – Used SuperSoft (16 laps) – New Soft (23 laps)
“It’s safe to say today was the worst start in my whole career. I had a lot of wheelspin at the start and dropped back to P16 – so it was a long fight back through the pack. The team had to think on their feet and tweak the strategy to get me back into a competitive position. Degradation was quite high, especially when following other cars, and I spent a lot of time in the middle of the race fighting with Fernando (Alonso).

“In the last few laps I was running out of tyres, but I knew Fernando was in a similar situation, so when I saw an opportunity I knew I had to take it. I honestly didn’t think we would score points after turn one, but we did it. We go on holiday now, proud of the incredible work we have done as a team in the first half of the season. I am confident we have a lot of good days ahead of us in the final nine races, but for now it’s important to get some rest.”

Nico Hulkenberg fancies a bit of footie.

Nico Hulkenberg

Sergio Perez

A strong performance from Force India saw Nico Hulkenberg qualify in seventh place for his home Grand Prix at Hockenheim. Team mate Sergio Perez was close behind and will start the race from ninth.

Nico Hulkenberg: “I’m feeling pretty happy to qualify in seventh for my home race – it’s best of the rest behind the top three teams and a good effort by the whole team. Our objective is always to maximise our potential and it feels like we achieved that today. Most of my laps in the session came together nicely and my final effort in Q3 was spot on.

“We can expect a tough fight for good points tomorrow, but we are in a good starting position and we’ve looked strong here in all the sessions. The long run pace is competitive, too, so we’ve got every chance of getting a great result this weekend. There is talk of some rain tomorrow and to be honest I would not mind a shower during the race, but let’s wait and see what happens.”

Sergio Perez: “It was a fun and very intense fight with Nico and the two Williams cars throughout qualifying, and in the end it was really close between the four of us. It was crucial to get through Q1 on one set of tyres because some other teams had to use two sets and this gave us a small advantage in Q2 which helped us make the top ten.

“On my last lap of Q3 I struggled a bit through some of the right-hand corners; I think I may have picked something up on my front wing – maybe some debris – and that cost me some time, but it’s something I will analyse with the team. In the end, it was so close and just a few hundredths of a second made the difference. Tomorrow is going to be interesting. We are starting on the supersofts on which we qualified and we will need to work well as a team to make the strategy work and score some important points.”

Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez celebrates his third position with the team.

Force India and Sergio Perez picked a second podium finish of the season today after a strong performance at the European Grand Prix in Baku. Nico Hulkenberg battled to ninth place to ensure a double points finish for the team.

Sergio Perez: “I knew that the podium was possible today, but we really had to work hard for it. The key to my race was the great start I made to get around a Williams (Massa) and a Toro Rosso (Kvyat). Then, in the first stint I was suffering with graining of my supersoft tyres and we had to decide whether to wait for it to improve or to make an early stop. In the end, we stayed out longer, which was the right decision, but when I came out of the pits I struggled to warm-up the soft tyres and I was under big pressure from Lewis behind.

“I pushed as hard as I could and opened up a gap, and then I focussed on looking after my tyres. I closed in on Kimi and I knew he had a penalty, but on the final lap I got very close to him and saw the opportunity to overtake him, so I took it. To be on the podium for a second time this year feels fantastic. The team has done a brilliant job and we are having an amazing year.”

Nico Hülkenberg:  “It was a fairly tough race for me. The start was ok, but coming into turn one someone (Gutierrez) hit me from behind. I lost a couple of positions trying to control the car and that put me a bit on the back foot. Getting through traffic in the opening stages was not very easy and it cost me a lot of time. Then, for the early part of the race, I was struggling with oversteer and in general I couldn’t find the same harmony with the car that I had in practice.

“Making the supersoft tyres last as long as I did – 31 laps – was not easy and by the end of the race I had very little left, but it was a risk I was happy to take to make our strategy work. The car had great potential all weekend long, but I feel I paid for the mistake I made yesterday in qualifying. However, I am pleased for the team’s result: it means we bring home a bunch of points which is a boost for our season.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “What a fantastic result from a weekend where we looked strong from the start. It is a success for the whole team: from the crew that repaired Checo’s damaged car after FP3 and produced two brilliant stops at a crucial time, to the guys on the pit wall who made the right calls, and of course everyone back at base.

“We knew we had the pace to fight at the front, even if we were starting further back than we wanted, but we delivered the result in the end. Checo drove well and a second podium in three races shows that he is getting the potential out of the car. Nico was unlucky to be hit at the start by Gutierrez, which ultimately compromised his race. He lost a few positions, but was able to keep the car facing the right way.

“Starting in P12, he had a different strategy and he was only a couple of laps away from finishing seventh, but he still claimed some important points. Today’s result strengthens our fifth position in the championship and moves us closer to fourth . I have no doubt there will be celebrations tonight!”

Sergio Perez makes a pit stop.

Both Force India cars finished inside the top ten today with Nico Hulkenberg racing to eighth place ahead of Sergio Perez in tenth.

Nico Hülkenberg:  “I’m happy to score points, but at the same time I was hoping for a bit more from the race because I really believed we could challenge the top six. For some reason the car didn’t feel as good today as it did during practice and qualifying. Maybe it’s because the conditions were so cold and windy, which meant we lost the sweet spot and the car was not easy to drive. That’s something we need to look at in more detail and understand.

“At the start I didn’t get off the line very well, but I had a great first lap and recovered some positions. Then, the story of my race was simply tyre management. I think we made the right calls with the tyre strategy because even though we wanted to try and one stop it just wasn’t possible in the end.”

Sergio Perez: “It was a difficult race and looking back I don’t think we chose the optimum strategy. We tried to go down a different route compared to everyone else, but the cooler track conditions didn’t help: it was very difficult to get heat into the soft tyres during the first stint and that cost me a few positions at the start. I got stuck behind the two McLarens and that hurt my race. I lost a few seconds at the final stop when I briefly stalled the car and that dropped me behind Kvyat, but I managed to get the position back with an overtake going into turn one.

“In any case, to bring both cars home inside the points is a good result for the team, especially when the weekend doesn’t really go your way. We gave it our best and we have come home with points in the bag.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “To come away from Montreal with another double points finish is a very good effort which consolidates our fifth place in the championship. We started the race hoping we could pull off a one-stop strategy with both cars, but with lots of tyre graining and high wear rates we opted to switch to a two-stop race. Most of the cars around us did the same, so it was the sensible course of action to cover our bases.

“Nico’s race was pretty non-eventful and he did well in the opening few laps to recover the ground he lost when he bogged down at the start. Sergio’s race was compromised by the slow warm-up of the soft tyres, which dropped him behind both McLarens and cost him quite a bit of time. To recover and score the final point was a good effort. After the chilly conditions of Montreal, we look forward to the weather that awaits us in Baku next week.”

Nico Hulkenberg on the drivers parade.

Sergio Perez celebrates his third position on the podium.

Force India scored a fantastic podium today as Sergio Perez raced to third place in the Monaco Grand Prix. Sixth place for Nico Hülkenberg ensured the team climbed to fifth in the constructors’ championship.

Sergio Perez: “A podium in Monaco is a very special moment. It’s one of my best ever races, especially when you see how difficult the conditions were today: you had to concentrate so hard and it was easy to make a mistake. The key to my race was the strategy and we got things just about perfect today.

“The first difficult decision was when to fit the intermediate tyre and we delayed this as long as possible. The team said it was my call when to come in and it paid off because we managed to jump a couple of cars, including my teammate. The switch to dry tyres was another key moment because I pitted early, a lap before Rosberg and Vettel, and managed to jump ahead of them.

“The soft tyres worked really well, but I knew I needed to look after them and it wasn’t easy because there was pressure behind from Vettel for most of the race. Everybody in the team deserves this result and I want to dedicate this podium to Vijay Mallya in particular.”

Sergio with his father Antonio Perez.

Nico Hülkenberg: “It was ultimately a disappointing race for me, despite getting back to scoring points. I feel the timing of our first pit stop was wrong and that cost me track position and put me straight into traffic. This effectively ruined my race, as I spent the rest of the afternoon stuck there. It’s very frustrating as I had the pace to be on the podium today, but this is racing and it’s just the way it often is in Monaco.

“I was able to finally get past Rosberg with a good move on the exit of the final corner: we were on worn out tyres, it started to drizzle and it was very tricky to keep the car facing in the right direction. I got a better exit out of the corner and I think I got him by just a car’s length. All in all, I still feel it’s a huge missed opportunity for me. The car was in the sweet spot, it gave me a lot of confidence and I just had a good feeling today, but it was not to be.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “What a race! It’s amazing to be celebrating our fourth podium finish and Sergio’s third with the team. It wasn’t easy to make the right calls with the strategy, but when given the opportunity to score a special result, Sergio didn’t put a single wheel wrong and grabbed it with both hands. To be honest, these decisions can often go the other way and we will review the wet to intermediate call we made with Nico.

“We opted to make an early stop for the intermediate tyres, but he got stuck behind Massa, which proved very costly for his race. Despite the disappointment for Nico, it’s a very special day for the team, one that will live with us for a very long time. It’s our best ever result in Monaco and we will celebrate this moment. We have reclaimed fifth in the championship, we showed that the VJM09 is a very competitive package and we got a big confidence boost as we head to a number of tracks that will play to our strengths.”

The podium (L to R): Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez.

Sergio Perez

Nico Hulkenberg

Force India delivered a strong qualifying performance in Monaco as Nico Hulkenberg qualified in fifth place ahead of Sergio Perez in eighth. With a grid penalty for Kimi Raikkonen, Perez is expected to start from seventh.

Nico Hülkenberg: “I’m very happy. We knew we had the speed to be inside the top ten today, but to qualify fifth is better than I expected. I’ve had good vibes since the start of the weekend and I’ve felt comfortable and confident since the start of practice on Thursday. We made a big step forward in Barcelona and today’s result shows that the car is working well, especially through the low-speed corners.

“My laps were clean and tidy in Q1 and Q2, and then in Q3 I was on the money and hit the sweet spot with my final lap. Of course, qualifying is only half the job and there is still a long race ahead of us with so many factors that can come into play tomorrow. In Monaco, nothing comes easy; you always have to work hard to earn your result, but I’ve put myself in a good position to come away with some important points.”

Sergio Perez: “We had very good pace today and we made some steps forward compared to Thursday, but I struggled to get heat into the tyres and that’s why I feel a better position was possible. In any case, seventh is a good place to start so we are targeting a strong result. Monaco is probably the most important qualifying session of the year so it’s good to be starting well inside the top ten, but at the same time we know how unpredictable this race can be.

“Anything can happen, such as a safety car or rain, and you need to react quickly and make the right calls. You also need a bit of luck. It will be crucial to start well, as we know that what really matters in Monaco is track position. Tomorrow is going to be a whole different story and I am looking forward to the challenge.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “The qualifying session in Monaco can make or break your weekend and so today’s results are extremely satisfying. It’s the first time we’ve had two cars qualify inside the top ten in Monaco and Nico’s fifth place is our highest starting position here, and also our best starting position of the year.

“We’ve looked competitive all the way through practice and Nico and Sergio have steadily built up their speed with each session. They kept their noses clean today, coped with the traffic, and delivered some fantastic laps when it mattered. To be lining up fifth and seventh means we are well placed for a good result tomorrow. Anything can happen in Monaco but I am confident we will be ready to make the most of any opportunity.”

Sergio Perez

Nico Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg

Force India scored six points in today’s Spanish Grand Prix with Sergio Perez racing to seventh place. Team mate Nico Hulkenberg was an early retirement following an oil leak and fire.

Sergio Perez
Strategy: Used Soft (9 laps), New Medium (26 laps), New Medium (31 laps)
“It was a very good race and I think we managed to get the maximum result we could hope to achieve today. We were able to keep some very fast cars behind us and we capitalised on the accident on the first lap (between Hamilton and Rosberg) to bring home a good amount of points.

“I had to fend off Felipe (Massa) in the last three laps: I was on very old tyres and he was closing in on me, but I managed to defend my position. This was pretty much the only action I had all afternoon; the rest of my race was quite lonely, which helped me look after the tyres and allowed me to defend in the final few laps. We had a good strategy that helped us leapfrog the Haas and brought us this good result on a track that has never been our strongest.”

Nico Hülkenberg
Strategy: New Soft (10 laps), New Medium (10 laps, DNF)
“It’s frustrating not to finish another race. I saw some smoke coming from the back of my car and then it developed into a fire so I had to park quickly at the side of the track. It’s a shame because I missed the chance to fight for points and we also missed out on learning more about the car in race conditions.

“Sometimes in racing you have periods when things don’t go your way, but you have to keep the faith and believe that sooner or later your luck will change. There are also some positives to take away from this weekend because we’ve made progress with the car and I think the performance will continue to improve. So we will keep working hard and come back stronger at the next one.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal:
“It’s been quite an eventful weekend for us, so it’s fairly satisfying to be leaving Barcelona with six points in our pocket. We made a good step with the car, allowing Sergio to run solidly inside the top ten all afternoon. It’s a track with limited strategy options and few overtaking opportunities so it was quite a lonely and straightforward race for him.

“On the other side of the garage, Nico was out of luck with an oil leak causing a fire and forcing an early retirement. Thankfully Nico was able to park up and helped the marshals extinguish the fire. So it’s been another mixed weekend, but I think our improved performance bodes well for the remainder of the season. As we learn more about this car we have the potential to continue scoring good points at the upcoming races.”

Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez

Force India delivered a competitive showing with Sergio Perez qualifying in ninth place for today’s Spanish Grand Prix. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg starts from P11.

Sergio Perez: “I’m very happy to be starting ninth. This track has traditionally been a difficult one for us, so to come here with our upgrade and make Q3 feels pretty good. I think there was the potential to be even faster on my Q3 lap, but I’m still happy with the result. I expect us to be strong in the race and we have a good track position, which is important on this track where it’s never easy to overtake.

“In the first stint, the cars starting just outside the top ten on fresh tyres will be a threat, but I am confident we can make a good start and stay ahead. Strategy will be important, as well as tyre management, but it’s not easy if you get involved in battles that take the life out of your tyres. If we can come away with a good number of points it will be a nice reward for the team’s hard work and effort recently.”

Nico Hülkenberg: “It’s always a bit disappointing to miss out on Q3 by just one hundredth of a second, but on the other hand starting from P11 gives us the chance to explore the strategy options with a free choice of tyre for the first stint. We brought a big upgrade here this weekend and generally it’s working well, but I’m not totally comfortable in the car and I’m still chasing the balance. I feel quite optimistic about tomorrow because our long run pace looked solid and we’ve got a good chance of scoring some points.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal:
“To come to Barcelona – one of the most demanding tracks where aero performance dominates – and qualify in ninth and eleventh places is an excellent effort by the whole team. Everybody has worked extremely hard to deliver our new aerodynamic package and we’ve already reaped the rewards with our performance today. Sergio and Nico both delivered tidy laps and Nico was within a whisker of joining Sergio in Q3. Those starting positions give us a great opportunity to score a good number of points and make up for the misfortune we’ve experienced in some of the earlier races this season.”

Nico Hulkenberg