Force India
Esteban Ocon
“A difficult race for us and we knew it was going to be a big challenge to score points today. The start of the race was strong and we made up a few positions, but we didn’t have enough pace to recover from the back of the grid and fight for points. I enjoyed some good battles with the Renaults, but the problems in qualifying yesterday really determined our result today. We have a few weeks off now and there is still a long way to go in the second half of the season. Everybody deserves a rest so that we can come back stronger in Spa.”
Sergio Perez
“It hasn’t been an ideal day for us, but we knew it was going to be a tough Sunday all along. We started from the back and chose to go with an aggressive strategy, but in the end we just didn’t have the pace to make it work. I had a good start but lost some places after touching with Leclerc and after that it was always going to be difficult to recover on a circuit where overtaking is very difficult. I am glad we have the summer break now. The last few months have been tough mentally but I’m still here and I’m in the top ten of the drivers’ championship. We will come back stronger after the holidays – all the off-track issues will have been settled down and we can come to Spa with the right approach and a stable environment around us.”
Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer
“Today’s result was largely compromised by the issues we encountered in qualifying yesterday. Starting from the back, both drivers had eventful races, with battles keeping them busy from start to finish. We tried two different strategies, with Esteban starting on soft tyres and Sergio on ultrasofts, but in the end this made little difference and they finished within ten seconds of each other. The summer break gives us a chance to regroup, deal with the issues that are taking place away from the track and come back for the second part of the season in a much stronger position. We are confident in the work we are doing back at the factory and we are still in the thick of the action when it comes to the midfield battle, so we can look forward to recharging the batteries once this week’s test is over.”
