Force India’s Esteban Ocon reckons that he and Sergio Perez made the difference for the team to score points in the tricky conditions in 2018 Formula 1 German Grand Prix.
The Silverstone-based outfit was the only other team outside Mercedes and Ferrari to keep both its drivers on the dry weather tyres despite the conditions briefly calling for the intermediate compound.
Perez pitted on Lap 22 while Ocon did it on Lap 25 to change to the soft tyres in what could have been a two-stop race for the two. However, with the rain falling during the laps between 40 and 55, they eventually made the call to stay on the one-stop strategy.
As usual with all the other teams, the radio exchange did happen but they decided to stay out and see-through the race on the soft compound. It was slippery as even Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel crashed out, but the two Force India drivers held on.
The Mexican though had a brief scare when he spun while lapping Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, but overall both of them managed to bring the car home well in the points, even though they lost out to Haas’ Romain Grosjean in the end due to older tyres.
For Ocon, who finished eighth behind Perez, he felt it was actually him and Perez who made the difference in those conditions after the perfect strategy call. “It was [a] fantastic race [overall],” started Ocon.
“[I had a] boring first stint really. I made a good start, but I couldn’t gain more. As soon as it started to rain, me and Sergio 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. We believed in our strategy and in the end it paid off
“So, [I am] really happy with the team result, especially coming back into the points after yesterday’s difficulties, it is fantastic.” The Frenchman started from 15th and was running largely outside the points position until the rain hit.
On the other hand, Perez had a solid start to clear Leclerc and Renault’s Carlos Sainz. He also made a bold move on Grosjean, but his slow pit stop allowed the Frenchman to win back the position as the Mexican ran eighth until the rain.
“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.” In fact, Grosjean managed to keep Haas on level with Force India in the championship.
The Indian outfit was two points behind coming into the race but with both scoring they have moved ahead of Haas even though they are tied on 59 points – had Grosjean not passed either of the drivers, Force India would have pulled out a gap.
