Canadian GP: Force India review

Force India’s 100th race was a memorable one, as both the drivers managed a spot in the top ten for the second consecutive time and third overall in this season. Currently, they stand 5th in the Constructor’s Championship with 51 points, 15 ahead of rivals Mclaren.

Force India’s deputy team principal, Robert Fernley, was pleased with the outcome of the race at Montreal.

“It’s great to see both our cars in the points at our 100th Grand Prix. It brings our tally to 51 points and strengthens our fifth position in the championship,” he said.

Things didnt go as planned in the qualifying session for Paul Di Resta, as he failed to make it to Q2 for the second race in a row due to error in the seamless shift software. However, he managed to finish at 7th position despite starting the race at 17th position. The Scot was initially livid with his team for letting him down for the second time, the previous incident being in Monaco, where the team management failed to put the up fresh tyres for the Scot during the final moments of the qualifying, which had cost him dearly. But he later cleared the air surrounding the issue.

“The person who made the mistake apologized and I’m fully supportive of that,” said Di Resta. “It’s just unfortunate it happened two weeks in a row, which is where the anger was.

“Looking back, I don’t think I was too harsh. When you work with the team so closely, it’s good to have that heat because you need to show your emotion.”

Di Resta’s one pit-stop stop strategy worked wonders for him, as he ran on medium tyres for a record 56 laps, most by any on a particular rubber this season. Currently, he is placed 8th in the Driver’s Championship with 34 points, 12 behind his previous season’s tally.

Meanwhile his teammate, Adrian Sutil, had a mixed race with a lucky escape at turn 2, when his car went for a spin as he fought with William’s Bottas for the 6th position.

“I had a spin when I tried to overtake Bottas, which cost me quite a few positions and I was lucky nobody hit me when I was in the middle of the track. I dropped back and the pack was bunched together, which is when Maldonado ran into the back of me and damaged my rear wing,” he said.

The drive-through penalty didnt go well with the German as he found the penalty to be inconsisten, costing him his position. Sutil wants the rules to be clarified with the FIA.

“Even with all those things I was running in eighth until the drive-through penalty. I don’t think it was a fair penalty because I too had to lap so many cars today and it sometimes took one or two laps, and that’s normal for this circuit. The penalty cost me two positions and three points,” the German said.

“I had no clear instruction and it’s really, really disappointing that they’re inconsistent in their decisions,” he said further.

Despite all the mishaps, the German ended up securing 10th spot, thereby earning himself and the team a point.

Sebastian Vettel emerged as the race winner with a 14.4 second advantage over rival Fernando Alonso, as he won the 29th race of his stellar career. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton secured third spot, while the Red Bull’s Australian driver, Mark Webber, finished ahead of Monaco winner Nico Roseberg.

Jean Eric Vergne of Torro Rosso finished in the 6th spot, his career best, ahead of Ferrari‘s Felipe Massa and Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen.