Force India “much stronger” in Germany – Perez

2014 German Grand Prix

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Sergio Perez expects Force India to fare better at the Hockenheimring this weekend than they did at Silverstone.

Perez returned to the circuit after the race to participate in last week’s test, during which he says the team got on top of some of the problems they had faced.

“It was good to have the chance to understand some of the issues that affected us during the race weekend,” said Perez.

“We also tested new aero parts on the car and the team will look at the data to decide whether we use them in Germany. I believe Hockenheim will be a very different situation; it’s a track that should suit our car better and we should be in a much stronger position.”

“It looks like a track where we can perform well,” he added. “With the softer tyres and warm temperatures it’s going to be an interesting race.”

Nico Hulkenberg finished eighth at Silverstone and team principal Vijay Mallya believes Perez would also have been in the top ten had it not been for a first-lap tangle with one of the Toro Rossos.

“It was unfortunate that Checo came together with [Jean-Eric] Vergne,” said Mallya. “It completely compromised his race and he had to restart from the back. Had that incident not happened, he could have been in the points as well.”

Mallya added the Silverstone winds had exposed a weakness in their car: “It became clear on Friday that our car was sensitive to the windy conditions, so when we saw the wind return on race day we knew that it would compromise our race performance.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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14 comments on “Force India “much stronger” in Germany – Perez”

  1. Force India may not only have 2 very talented drivers in their line-up, they also have one the best cars Force India have put on the grid. Their tyre conservation is unreal and.probably the best out of all the other F1 cars as well as having good mechanical reliability. Throughout this year, Force India have only had 1 mechanical failure which was back in Malaysia when a gearbox issue forced Perez to retire before they headed for the grid. Other than that, Perez’s retirements have been from collisions or accident damage and Hulkenberg is only 1 of 2 drivers in the field this year to finish every race they’ve started inside the points (the other being Alonso). So in all reality, Force India are a podium finisher (as Perez proved so in Bahrain), so why cant Germany be another podium achieving race for either Nico or Checo?

    1. Paul (@frankjaeger)
      14th July 2014, 10:48

      I have definitely been impressed with Checo this year, despite his tangles. A driver that deserves a couple more years in F1

    2. Why? Because they are losing development race to bigger teams.

      1. @osvaldas31 & @mattypf1 – While they don’t have anywhere near the development reserves of the big teams, I think the bigger issue so far is poor qualifying. Of the 18 starts so far, more than half have been outside the top 10 with the best engine on the grid and at times the second fastest Merc team. That stems, I think, from less development funding, less downforce, and possibly from absence of FRIC (if some reports are correct that they aren’t running it).

        But part of their ability to do so well in races, i.e. making the tires live forever, (and it is impressive) certainly has to be impacting their qualifying pace. Considering how well they are positioned in the points race, it seems to be a gamble that has paid off. If they went after getting more heat into the tires more quickly it would probably impact their long runs and possibly their results.

        My point is that given the constraints on the team, they could have gone either way on tire wear/strategy, but I think they have about maxed the potential of their car so far this season.

        1. Confusing — doesn’t FRIC result in increased tyre life by making the car better balanced? If Force India is not running it then their long stints are even more amazing.

  2. It will be a disappointing season for Force India if they finish outside top5

  3. Hulkenberg clearly has Perez measure if were looking overall, but Checo is a good driver who imo would serve Mclaren just as well as Button with the fact that Perez has years left. I still don’t get the descision

    1. Hulk is definitely more consistent, but I wouldn’t go as far to say he has the measure of Checo. Checo seems to be faster in the race.

      1. @ Dan @david-beau It’s currently 7-2 to Hulk in quali and a staggering 63-28 in the points to the Hulk again. To credit Perez, he did have that brilliant podium at Bahrain and a very strong run at Austria (which would have been even better if he didn’t qualify badly and have his penalty) but he, like his fellow Mexican, has been too crash-happy this year. Poor qualifying in Australia meant he got tangled up on lap 1, silly accidents at Monaco and Canada cost a bucket-full of points and it didn’t look as if he was completely innocent in the tap at Silverstone with JEV. He also had that mechanical problem in Malaysia which was out of his control. In fact, Perez is the least-scoring driver powered by a Mercedes engine, behind Massa.

    2. Mclaren and Ferrari both passed on Hulkenberg because of his height and weight (According to an interview in F1 Magazine). Which is a huge shame, because he’s a stellar performer. I think Ron-Ron should reconsider.

      1. @thrillerwa09 If the FIA would just bump up the weight by like 5kg, then a driver like Hulk would be “eligible” for seat w/ a top team (b/c the “penalty” for putting him in their chubby cars would be reduced, while a pipsqueak like Massa (who is prime advocate for the ridiculous weight limit that forces his competitors to anorexia) would cease to hold a lucky advantage by virtue of being jockey-sized.

  4. Season is being more constant in the history of Force India. This was a car that no one gave anything to 6 years ago, and now fight for the podium at every race. It is very gratifying to see Force India at the top, we are ahead of McLaren still believe a great finish to the season for Force India.

  5. Come on Nico, get that overdue podium and replace Kimi! ;)

  6. I hope Hülkenberg will get a lot of points.

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