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F1 German Grand Prix: Force India continues slow but steady pursuit of Williams

Force India duo of Nico Hulkeneberg and Sergio Perez have kept up the hunt of Williams for the fourth spot in the F1 world constructors' championship as the deficit was cut to 15 points in Germany.

Since the Silverstone-based squad broke into a stride of form in Monaco with Perez's rostrum, Force India has gradually closed the deficit to Williams and once again edged ever closer thanks to its fifth double points finish of the campaign.

Despite 'the worst start in my whole career' Perez recovered to grab the final points position ahead of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez in the closing stages, while Hulkenberg felt he was able to optimise his strategy at his home race to take seventh place.

"Seventh was probably the best result available to us today, so it feels good to get the maximum," Hulkenberg said. "The team did a great job with the strategy because we went into the race believing a two-stopper was possible, but then made an early decision to switch to three stops. It was definitely the right way to go and allowed me to take seventh place in the final few laps."

"I had a lot of wheelspin at the start and dropped back to P16 - so it was a long fight back through the pack," Perez said. "The team had to think on their feet and tweak the strategy to get me back into a competitive position.

"In the last few laps I was running out of tyres, but I knew Fernando Alonso was in a similar situation, so when I saw an opportunity I knew I had to take it. I honestly didn't think we would score points after turn one, but we did it."

Coupled with Williams only grabbing two points in Germany thanks to Valtteri Bottas in ninth, Force India cut the teams' deficit by five points to set up an intriguing midfield battle between the two British squads in the second half of the campaign.

Zdroj: crash.net