After losing all their championship points on Thursday, Force India gave their new owners a great welcome gift with fifth and sixth at the Belgian GP.
Having started third and fourth, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez were challenging for the lead on the approach to Les Combes on Lap 1, from that point on though, the might of the top three teams was too much as Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas caught and passed them on the Kemmel Straight.
“It’s a great performance by the team today and I think we executed an almost perfect weekend,” said Perez.
“We just couldn’t have kept the top teams behind us in the dry so to be ‘best of the rest’, with Esteban right behind me, is the most we could have done.
“I am happy with what we have achieved; we have scored some important points for the team and sent a strong message for the next few races. It’s a nice start of a new era for the team.”
While there is the possibility Spa could have been his final race with the team, as Lance Stroll rumours continue, Ocon was also pleased to have had the chance to challenge at the front.
“I am satisfied with today’s race and I think we finished where we deserved to with the pace we had,” said the Frenchman.
“I made a good start and I was on the inside of Sebastian [Vettel] at turn one. He had better traction, but I was very quick on the straight and tried to get the lead on the Kemmel straight.
“I had a good run down, slipstreaming both Vettel and Lewis [Hamilton] and I tried to find a way on the inside, but in the end I lost a place to Sergio. It was good, fair racing all around.
“It’s a good start to the “new” life of the team; we scored a lot of points which is important for our championship comeback.
“We showed good pace all weekend and hopefully this is going to continue in the final part of the season.”
