Force India’s championship position took a knock in China, as the Silverstone-based team fell to eighth in the standings. In a year when a top five overall finish is the target, the Vijay Mallya-run squad is facing new competition from Sauber and Williams.
After Paul di Resta scored in Melbourne and both he and Nico Hülkenberg made the top ten at Sepang, Shanghai marked the team’s first non-scoring race of 2012.
“We always felt that scoring points would need an element of luck or attrition, but as it was we saw almost 100 percent reliability,” explains Deputy Team Principal Bob Fernley. “Paul was in the mix for most of the race, fighting to get in the top ten and ending up just under eight seconds from seventh place and just 22 seconds off second place, which shows how competitive the field was today.
“Nico’s race was compromised by a poor getaway and the front wing damage, but we take encouragement from the pace he showed, especially towards the end of the race. We know that our race pace relative to our midfield rivals is not too far away and hopefully we can continue to close the performance gap quickly.”
Force India now heads to Bahrain where, in the last race there in 2010, Vitantonio Liuzzi scored in ninth place and Adrian Sutil fought to 12th from the back of the field.
Series
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Bob Fernley
Paul di Resta
Nico Hülkenberg
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Force India F1
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:36:26.929 |
| 2. | J. Button | McLaren | +20.626 |
| 3. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +26.012 |
| 4. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +27.924 |
| 5. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +30.483 |
| 6. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +31.491 |
| 7. | B. Senna | Williams | +34.597 |
| 8. | P. Maldonado | Williams | +35.643 |
| 9. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +37.256 |
| 10. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +38.720 |
| Full results | |||
| Nico Hülkenberg | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Nico Hülkenberg photos | |||
| Paul di Resta | |||
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| More Paul di Resta photos | |||
| Bob Fernley | |||
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| More Bob Fernley photos | |||
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