Force India has forced its way upwards in the constructors’ standing and is now tied with Haas for the fifth place, thanks to its three consecutive double point finishes.
The team’s strategy call to keep the cars out during the late safety car period allowed its drivers to take the seventh and eighth place at the chequered flag.
Armed with fresher tyres, Haas driver Romain Grosjean overtook Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon to finish sixth in the race. But since Kevin Magnussen finished outside the points range in the race, Force India closed the gap with the American outfit.
Thanks to Perez’s podium finish at Baku, the Silverstone outfit will sit higher in the rankings than Haas
Perez had a slow pit stop at Hockenheim and lost time when he spun on the track due to the wet surface. Despite such mistakes, he had the pace and made the right call to finish in points.
“When you come away from such a crazy afternoon with some good points you have to be happy,” he said.
“The whole race was very busy and I was always in the middle of the pack fighting the cars around me. I had a mega first stint, but we were unlucky with the slow pit stop, which cost us a few seconds.
“Then, when the rain arrived, it was very tricky and each lap was a new adventure. I spun while I was lapping Leclerc – I don’t think he saw me and I just lost the rear end.
“To survive all these things and finish seventh is a good achievement. It’s just a shame I lost a position to Grosjean on the final lap, but we did all we could today.”
Ocon had a bad qualifying race and had to start at 15th, but still made the best use of his car to progress during the race and finished at eighth.
“It’s a great result for us after yesterday’s disappointment. I made a good start and gained a few places in the opening laps, but besides that, the first stint was pretty boring.
“It’s only after the pit stop, when it started raining, that Sergio and I truly made the difference. We gained a few positions on slicks under the rain and it was really good fun.
“I had to evaluate the situation lap by lap, based on how much rain I could see on my visor and picking my braking points accordingly, but we never really had any doubt about staying out.
“To get in the points after a tough Saturday is a great result: we stayed solid, we believed in our strategy and in the end, it paid off.”
The Silverstone outfit has set its eye on getting back their fourth place and they are now only 21 points away and have 10 more races in the season.
It looks like the outfit has finally stopped its downward spiral and has started on an upward trajectory. But can they unseat Renault for fourth?
