Force India: P4 will be more difficult next season

Editor

Force India’s deputy team principal Bob Fernley is worried that fourth will be more difficult to obtain next season as McLaren and Renault enter the mix.

Last time out in Mexico, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon wrapped up fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship as they brought Force India’s tally up to 175.

With a maximum of 50 still in play, that means Williams in fifth with 76 points cannot catch them.

Next season, Fernley admits P4 will be harder to come by as the likes of McLaren, who are swapping to Renault power, and Renault’s works team enter the fray.

As such the deputy team boss says Force India need to work on improving their responses to F1’s development war throughout the season.

“At the start of the season, we had the drivers and reliability to make sure we would position ourselves well but knowing we wouldn’t necessarily have the outright pace,” he told Motorsport.com.

“Through the season, we didn’t quite get the upgrades we would have liked to have but come the Asian leg, the upgrades we have put in have worked. That has given us the fourth-best chassis as well as being the fourth-best racing team.

“Now we have to work on that for next year, as it will become more difficult next year.

“We have to be clear that McLaren is looking very strong from a chassis point of view and there are improvements coming with the Renault as well. So we won’t have it easy.”