Szafnauer hails unrelenting development pace of Force India

Force India's COO Otmar Szafnauer says the teams' ability to sustain its rate of development in 2018 played a major part in its successful performance.

For the second year running, the Silverstone-based outfit emerged as "the best of the rest", finishing the year fourth in the Constructors' standings after another season of outstanding consistency and performance.

Szafnauer points to the team's continuous improvement over the years as well as to its unrelenting development pace as reasons for its repeated outperformance, not to mention the talent of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.

"I can’t remember a year where we brought so many new parts to the track," he said.

"At almost every race there was something different on the car.

"In the second half of 2017 we took some significant development steps and emerged as the fourth quickest team at most of the races after the summer break.

"Even when we had secured fourth, we were able to bring 2018 development parts to the car to help our learning for next year."

• 2017 review: Force India sails stormy seas as 'best of the rest'

Standing at the lower end of the budget scale, Force India is Formula 1's most efficient outfit in terms of getting the most bang for its bucks.

"It’s been a long journey and it’s actually taken us ten years to get to this level," Szafnauer added.

"There are no quick fixes in this sport and we’ve gradually put the right ingredients in place to achieve the results we have today.

"We continue to invest in the right people and the engineering core, led by Andrew Green, has remained consistent for a number of years with a real harmony in the way we approach things.

"We’ve also taken sensible strategic decisions, such as our choice of wind tunnel and engine partner and the way we chose drivers who are the best fit for this team.

"The backing of new sponsors, including BWT, has been essential in helping us take those final steps and deliver the high development rate."

Szafnauer praised every single member of Force India's workforce for their contribution.

"To deliver fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship two years on the bounce is a huge achievement," said the American executive.

"I have to pay tribute to each and every one of the 400 team members who worked so hard to make it possible.

Whether it was back at the factory in the UK or the trackside effort by the race team, everybody played their part in delivering the most successful season in our history.

"We can feel very proud of our performance this year."

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