Two drivers, fighting each other for a spot on the podium, sounds like a Ferrari or Mercedes problem doesn't it? Maybe even Red Bull Racing on the odd occasions, but it has never been a problem Force India has had to deal with, until last Sunday that is.
The Canadian Grand Prix saw both Force India drivers put in sterling performances with rookie racer Esteban Ocon running as high as second at one point. Leaving his one and only pit stop until later in the race than his teammate, the young Frenchman came back out on track with much younger, and therefore much faster, tyres than Sergio Perez.
Asa the two drivers honed in on then third placed Daniel Ricciardo, Ocon was trying desperately to get past Perez and make the move on the Red Bull driver for the final step on the rostrum.
But, Perez wasn't having any part of it.
Instead the two drivers fought hard for that fourth position between themselves, Ocon's new rubber slowly being burnt out by being stuck behind his teammate for so long, while the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, also on new fresh ultrasoft Pirelli's hunted them both down.
In other teams, with a podium finish so close they could taste it, they would order the slower driver to allow the faster one through to maximise the result for the team, but, after never having been in that position, the Force India squad allowed their two very fast drivers to fight it out between themselves, which most fans would have admired, but at a loss to the team as a whole.
"There are positives and negatives with what happened," Force India's Deputy Team Principal Bob Fernley told Motorsport.com. "And what it has done is highlight an issue we have, which is quite a compliment, that we have two incredibly quick drivers. So we maybe have to review our positions on how we do things in the future. It is a nice problem to have, and we should not let it take away from us what was still a fantastic result for the team.”
“If we have to change the policy of how we work, that is a separate decision. But coming into the race, we have always allowed the drivers to race. We should not have recriminations on that at the end of the day. From a fan point of view, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot complain when people make switches [between drivers] and say they want them to race, and when they race say you want it the other way around. So, our policy has been let them race and that is what we did."
Team owner Vijay Mallya praised the efforts of all concerned after their drivers ended up fifth and sixth after Sebastian Vettel got past both of them for fourth place, however he hinted that there could be changes to the way they work in the future…
Well done guys Force India. Proud of you. Our policy of no team orders continues but I will specify guidelines to achieve best team result, he tweeted.
As for Ocon, the final straw came when Perez defended hard on the final lap when they both approached the chequered flag….
“He cannot do that, he cannot do that. He moved at the last moment, what is this? He cannot do that. This is not fair racing at all. This is not fair guys. This is not fair at all.”
