Monaco Grand Prix – Force India are hoping to capitalise on their double-Q3 appearance by claiming a big points finish in Monte Carlo.
Despite their somewhat under-the-radar performances throughout free practice, Force India are the only ‘midfield’ team to have both of their cars progress into the final part of qualifying.
In a close-fought qualifying hour – where just a couple of tenths separated sixth and tenth places – Force India’s Esteban Ocon emerged as ‘best of the rest’ with a sixth-place result, whilst team-mate Sergio Perez finished Q3 in ninth.
The result is Force India’s best qualifying result of the season, with their previous best result coming in Azerbaijan when Ocon qualified in seventh.
“I’m feeling very happy. Today we showed our strength as a team and we are sixth on the grid in Monaco,” said Ocon.
“It’s the most important qualifying session of the year and we have a great opportunity to score good points tomorrow. The team has done so much work to improve the car by bringing updates to each race and it’s really paying off.
“My lap in Q3 didn’t feel like my best of the weekend, but the car was working well and the lap time was there.
“I’m not getting carried away because there is a long way to go tomorrow. We still need to do a good job in the race, stay out of trouble and bring the car home.”
Force India are currently seventh in the constructors’ standings, one point behind Haas, twenty-two points behind McLaren and twenty-three points behind Renault.
