Force India securing P4 ‘remarkable’

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Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley described the team’s 2016 constructors’ championship result as “remarkable” after securing fourth place.

Valtteri Bottas’ early retirement from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix saw Force India confirmed in fourth ahead of Williams, marking the team’s best ever constructor’s championship result. Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh and Sergio Perez eighth to cement the position, and Fernley says the boost it will give the team is priceless.

“It’s just remarkable,” Fernley told F1i. “Actually when you look at the enthusiasm and the excitement of the team, nothing can buy that. It’s just remarkable, absolutely wonderful.

“People talk to us about what it means from a monetary point of view, but what it has given the team, money can’t buy. It’s an enthusiasm and a belief in themselves that no matter how big a price you put on it you could never achieve what we’ve done with this result.”

And Fernley says the team’s efficiency working on a smaller budget than many of its rivals is also a good example to set within the sport.

“It’s pretty much a known fact and I think we should be very proud of that. I think also it shows that you can perform at a very high level in Formula One without having to throw zillions at it.”

Asked about the financial impact of the result, Fernley replied: “It’s not as much as you think.

“In the real world it’s a huge amount of money which is probably close to £4million but in Formula One it’s not massive. What you can take away from it is the enthusiasm and the belief the team has today, money can’t buy that, and I think that’s going to be the driver for Force India.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.