Force India unfazed by Williams response

Force India feels it is in a strong position in the fight for fourth place in the constructors' championship despite dropping behind Williams at Monza.

A clear improvement since the Spanish Grand Prix has seen Force India close in on Williams and it took over fourth place following the Belgian Grand Prix where it finished fourth and fifth with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez respectively. However, Williams hit back at Monza as Valtteri Bottas took sixth and Felipe Massa ninth, scoring ten points to Force India's five.

Williams now holds a three-point advantage in the tight battle but Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer says scoring points with both drivers was a good result on a circuit where the Williams was particularly strong.

“Five points, both cars in the points, very good," Szafnauer told F1i. "Could we have done better? Maybe a little bit better, maybe Nico could have finished ahead of Massa but in the end Felipe was going pretty quickly. Nico lost most of it at the beginning when he got stuck behind [Fernando] Alonso.

"Anyway, two cars in the points, pretty good. A lot of racing left, we’re only three points behind, so I think that’s good. It’s good for the championship and we’ll push hard to the end.”

Szafnauer's confidence is based on a belief the majority of the remaining circuits will suit Force India better than Williams.

“Hopefully Singapore will suit us a lot better and there are some other ones that we like, including Austin. Suzuka could be good for us, Abu Dhabi is always good for us, Brazil is often good for us so there’s a few of them!”