Force India
Nico Hulkenberg: “That was an entertaining afternoon and it’s great to come away from our home race with a good bunch of points. My start was sensational – maybe the best I ever had in Formula One – and I rocketed up to fifth place ahead of the two Ferraris. I was able to keep them behind me for the first stint, but they had too much pace and were able to use the strategy to jump us by pitting early. When the rain arrived at the end of the race the track was very slippery. I was a bit unfortunate with the timing because I had just passed the pit lane entry when the rain became really heavy and I had to do a full lap before I could change to intermediates. Overall, though, I think seventh place is a great result and we should be satisfied. A lot of the performance today is down to the updates we brought here. It’s moved us in the right direction so I have to say a big well done to the team.”
Sergio Perez: “Finishing with both cars in the points at Silverstone is a very positive step for the team. We probably could have been even higher up, but the strategy didn’t really work out in my favour. After my first stop, I lost a position to Sainz and I spent a few laps stuck behind him when my tyres were at their best. I was in the dirty air and struggling with the front tyres, which had a lot of graining. When the second rain shower came we had a lot of discussions over the radio about what call to make and unfortunately we waited too long, which cost us a place. When you get opportunities and you don't make the best of them you are obviously disappointed, but I think we should focus on the positives of this weekend. We’ve shown good progress and there is a lot of potential for the second half of the season.”
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director: “To score eight points in our home race and strengthen our hold on fifth place in the championship is a fantastic achievement. Historically we’ve never been especially strong on the high-speed layout of Silverstone, but today the updated VJM08 looked competitive in all weather conditions. This track provides a tough test of a Formula One car so I’m optimistic we can keep up the momentum as we enter the second half of the season. Both Nico and Sergio drove exceptionally well today; they kept out of trouble and coped well with the changeable conditions. It wasn’t easy to know when to pit for intermediate tyres because some parts of the track were wet and some were dry, but I think we made the right decisions with the information we had.”
