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| Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg, whose four points at Indian GP extend his season total to 49 [PHOTO: FIA] |
Greater Noida: Nico Hulkenberg drove a battling race from 12th to eighth at
Force India’s home race, a result which moves the Indian squad four points
closer to Sauber in the battle for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship.
The German got away poorly but quickly recovered and by the
end of the first lap had moved to ninth. When Sauber’s Sergio Pérez retired
through damage following a puncture on lap eight, Hulkenberg rose to eighth, a
position he was able to hold until the chequered flag.
“I’m very happy with the result today and I think eighth was
about the maximum that was possible,” he said afterwards. “It was a great team
performance and I’m feeling satisfied with what we achieved today. At the start
I didn’t get the best getaway, but I had a good first lap and was able to
overtake Rosberg on the back straight and Maldonado going into turn four.
“The middle part of the race was quite lonely for me because
I was running in clean air, but towards the end Grosjean was very close behind
me and pushing hard,” he said. “But I didn’t crack under the pressure, I kept
him behind and we made the one-stop strategy work.”
Team Principal Vijay Mallya added that the result was an
important for the team in the Constructors’ Championship.
“After qualifying we knew we had a big task ahead of us, but
Nico rose to the challenge and raced well to finish in eighth place,” he said.
“It’s a very satisfying result and it means we have scored points in the last
six races – that’s every race since the summer break. These are important
points for our fight in the constructors’ championship and we will continue to
push very hard in the remaining three races.”