Force India Confirms Stroll for 2019

A surprise? No. Finally official? Yes. Force India confirmed on Friday that Lance Stroll will be Sergio Perez’s team mate next season, the Canadian youngster – who raced for Williams this year – replacing Esteban Ocon.

The move had been seen as all but a formality for some time, following the takeover of Force India earlier in the year by a consortium of investors led by Stroll’s father. According to the team, ‘Lance has pledged his commitment to the team as part of a long-term deal’.
“I’m pleased that we can finally confirm Lance’s arrival to race alongside Sergio next year,” said Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer. “It gives us an exciting line-up with the perfect blend of youth, talent, and experience.

“Lance is only 20 and already has two years of Formula 1 experience under his belt, as well as a podium finish and a front row start. We see huge potential in Lance and believe we can create an environment in which he can flourish.”

Stroll, who finished 18th in the 2018 driver standings after scoring six of Williams’ seven points, made his Force India test debut earlier this week in the post-race Abu Dhabi session.
 

“This is the beginning of an incredibly exciting journey in my Formula 1 career," he commented. "I look forward to working alongside a successful team with a great culture. It’s a new challenge and I am excited to embrace this new opportunity!”

With Toro Rosso having announced Alexander Albon earlier this week, Stroll's news means that all ten Formula 1 teams have now confirmed both their race drivers for 2019 - which, as expected, leaves Ocon off the grid in a test and reserve role for Mercedes.

"I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Esteban Ocon for his contribution to the team over the last two seasons and wish him well for the future,” added Szafnauer.

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Abu Dhabi GP - Race, Force India Quotes

A mixed finish for Force India which rather summed up their season – some good, some bad. Both cars were fighting with Verstappen at one point, albeit ultimately with less drama than Brazil. Ocon was forced to retire late on with engine issues, finishing his season stranded in the pit lane. Perez did come home to secure some decent points and ensure Force India maintained their seventh place in the constructors’ standings.

Sergio Perez, 8th
“Considering everything that has happened this weekend, I am pleased to finish inside the points. I’ve not been happy with the car and I’ve not had the pace we expected. We just never solved the balance issue and I think there could be some damage somewhere in the car. The start of the race was very important and after a strong first lap I was up inside the top ten. After that, the strategy worked as planned and my main competition was Leclerc. I was very close to him in the final few laps, but I just didn’t have the pace to overtake him. I am pleased we could protect the seventh place in the team’s championship and it was important to end the season with some points.”

Esteban Ocon, DNF
“It’s a very frustrating way to end the season. Everything was going well, we had some fantastic battles and overtakes, and the pace we had was really good. We weren’t on the best strategy because we had to start on the hypersoft tyres, but we had managed to recover well and we were looking good for a finish in the points. We did everything right as a team but sadly the car had an oil leak which forced us to retire. That’s how racing is: days like these are disappointing, but they make you stronger. I am grateful for all the support I have received from the fans, people inside the sport and of course inside the team this season.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal & CEO
“The main priority today was to score points and confirm seventh place in the standings, which we delivered thanks to Sergio’s run to eighth place. Starting on the ultrasoft tyre was definitely the optimal strategy and a strong opening lap was crucial to the final result. Esteban starred throughout the race with some great battles, but unfortunately his car suffered a loss of oil pressure and he had to retire. They both drove well tonight, as they have done all year, and we end the season on a positive note.”

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Abu Dhabi GP - Qualifying , Force India Quotes

Ocon had power issues in FP3 and missed much of the session, but looked back to his best in qualifying and made it all the way to Q3 in his final race for Force India. Perez tried to scrape through Q2 on the ultrasoft rubber but even once he fitted the hypersofts, the Mexican lacked pace to record a worst-ever qualifying in Yas Marina of P14.

Sergio Perez, 14th, 1:37.541
“I’m disappointed with our speed today. It’s been a poor weekend in terms of performance and there are still some issues with the car that we haven’t managed to solve. It’s hurting us over a single lap because the car is sliding too much and we’re really losing out. Hopefully it will be a different story tomorrow with a free choice of tyres for the start of the race. I’m targeting points, but it’s not going to be easy starting from P14.”

Esteban Ocon, 9th, 1:36.540
“I am pretty pleased with the overall result tonight. My Q1 lap was really good and I think we really extracted the best from the car across the session. We missed out on track time in final practice, but it was a great effort by the team to get the car ready for qualifying and make Q3. There will be a threat tomorrow from the cars outside the top 10, starting on better tyres, but hopefully we can make our strategy work starting on the hypersoft. It will be a tricky one but it will be interesting.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal & CEO
“We haven't had a particularly smooth lead up to qualifying and I think that showed in our overall pace this evening. Esteban had power unit and hydraulic issues in final practice, but still managed to qualify in P9 with some tidy laps, which was an excellent effort. Sergio wasn’t happy with the balance and struggled for speed in Q2, which means he will start from P14 with a free choice of tyre. It’s not going to be an easy race tomorrow with all the midfield teams pretty equal in terms of pace, but I think good points are still achievable.”

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Abu Dhabi GP - Practice , Force India Quotes

Ocon looked on top form, finishing in the top 10 in both sessions as he looked to put Brazil’s controversial incident behind him. Perez was uncharacteristically off the pace of his team mate, although he did raise a few eyebrows after nearly tangling with Verstappen in the pits after being released into his path.

Sergio Perez – FP1: 1:41.075, P13; FP2: 1:38.806, P14
“It wasn’t the easiest day for me. The car had some issues this morning and I couldn’t get comfortable with the balance. We think there could have been some damage. The afternoon was a bit better, but we had to work really hard to get on top of the balance issues I had with the car. I still think we can be in the top ten tomorrow because we normally pick up some speed between Friday and Saturday when we’ve gone through all the data. ”

Esteban Ocon - FP1: 1:40.102, P5; FP2: 1:38.402, P10
“It was a solid day and being fifth in the first session shows that we are in good shape. The car was strong this evening too. We know where we can improve and I think we can find some more performance tonight before qualifying. The midfield is really close, but I think we can target Q3. The race pace looks competitive as well and I think we can end the season on a high note.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal & CEO
“It was a bit of a mixed day. We had two routine sessions on Esteban’s side of the garage, where everything ran to plan, gathering set-up information and understanding the tyre compounds. We struggled a little more with the balance on Sergio’s car at first, but we were able to improve it for FP2. There is plenty of work to do ahead of qualifying. The conditions varied significantly between FP1 and FP2 here, with the track 15 degrees cooler in the evening. FP2 focused our minds on understanding the conditions for qualifying and the race, but we’ll need to offset all our data for FP3 when the track will be hot again. That’s the same for everyone and we’ll need to do our best to be ahead of a very tight midfield.”

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Abu Dhabi GP - Force India Preview

Sergio Perez
“Abu Dhabi will be the closing chapter of a very unusual year for both me and the team. It was probably the most complicated season of my career, having to deal with so many things happening inside and outside the cockpit. The final race of the year is the opportunity to look back at the work we have done in the last twelve months and I am proud and grateful to everyone working back at the factory, in the garage, and in the hospitality. This team never stops fighting; we never stop working and now we are looking at a very promising future. I am really happy to be part of this family and I am already looking forward to 2019.
“I enjoy the Abu Dhabi race. You drive into the sunset and when all the lights come on it looks really cool. It’s a track that is very hard on the brakes, with a lot of emphasis on traction out of some slow corners. You need a very stable car at the rear to make the most of those braking areas. There are some unusual corner combinations that are interesting in the car and there are overtaking chances at the end of both long straights, so you often find yourself either attacking or defending, especially towards the end of the race.
“It’s a track where we have been competitive for the last few years and I would love to end the season with a strong result. I am still aiming for seventh place in the drivers’ championship. I know it is going to be hard, but on Sunday anything can happen and I want to be ready if the chance is there. The team is also aiming for sixth place in the constructors’ so we need to deliver a perfect weekend.
“After the race and next week’s test it’s finally going to be time for some holidays. I am looking forward to enjoying my family, time with my wife and my baby, and seeing my friends before work starts for next season.”

Esteban Ocon
“It’s always a bittersweet feeling when you get to the end of the season, but the main motivation is to finish on a high, especially when there is so much at stake in the championship. The last couple of races have been very disappointing, but there’s still one last chance to score a good result before the end of the year.
“Abu Dhabi is always good fun. We travel there when it’s getting cold in Europe so it feels a bit like you’re going on a holiday. It’s a wonderful paddock too – one of the best – and I always feel very relaxed there.
“I have a lot of good memories from Abu Dhabi: it’s the place where I first drove during a Formula One weekend and I was crowned GP3 champion there. The start of that race in 2015 was incredible – I knew I had to take the title right there on lap one and I did it."

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Brazil GP - Race, Force India

Perez had a quiet race, coming home well adrift of the Haas boys but managing a point at least. But the Mexican is hardly the news story. Ocon was down at the back of the pack and had just been lapped by the race leader for a second time. He asked permission to unlap himself as he had fresher tyres. Force India said yes, he pulled up alongside Verstappen and... there wasn’t enough tarmac to go round. The collision lost the Dutchman the lead and landed Ocon with a ten-second stop-and-go penalty. They blamed each other, exchanged heated words post-race and certainly won’t be sharing a plane home on Friday night.... or in the future.

Sergio Perez, 10th
“I was really hoping we could get some rain this afternoon. Throughout the race I was looking at the clouds and they were getting darker, but in the end it stayed dry. I don’t think we had the race pace to score more points today. I had to fuel save quite early on and for much of the afternoon it was a pretty lonely race for me. We made our strategy work as best as we could and tenth place was as much as we could achieve. It’s a shame we couldn’t score more and capitalise on the Renaults not scoring, but hopefully we can end the season with a better result in Abu Dhabi.”

Esteban Ocon, 15th
“It’s disappointing not to score when we had good pace. I had made some good overtakes throughout the race, but it all came to nothing after the contact with Max [Verstappen]. He came out of the pits, I stayed behind him for nearly two laps but I was much faster than him and the team advised me to unlap myself. I went on the outside at turn one – the same move I made on Fernando [Alonso] and on many others before, but Max didn’t give me any space. Once I was beside him I couldn’t just disappear, so we collided. But it was my corner and I had the right to the space. I was saddened by his behaviour after the race: he was very aggressive and the guys from the FIA had to intervene. That’s not the way to handle these things.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal & CEO
“Rescuing one point was realistically the only result we could achieve given our difficult Saturday. Sergio completed a good race, fighting against the Renaults in the opening stages and opening a gap. It was a fairly lonely race after that, because we couldn’t close the gap on the two Haas cars in front, but given the circumstances it was a good result. Esteban had done a good job making up ground from the back of the grid and would have probably finished in P11 if it hadn’t been for the clash with Verstappen. The rules state that you’re allowed to unlap yourself and Esteban was much faster than Max at that stage. Unfortunately he wasn’t left any space in the corner and that ruined the race for both.”

Formula1.com 
 

Brazil GP - Qualifying Quotes - Force India

Force India’s pace deserted them and they failed to get either car through to Q3 in what was a disappointing qualifying. Ocon has a five-place grid penalty to take anyway and will need a strong recovery drive from towards the back, so all hopes appear to lie with Perez in P12, with the team still fighting hard to recover lost ground in the constructors’ championship. But with free tyre choice, the Mexican at least stands a good chance of sneaking into the points...

Sergio Perez, 12th, 1:08.741
“It was a challenging session and it’s disappointing to miss out on Q3 by such a small margin. It’s been a difficult weekend so far, losing out on so much track time on a circuit where half a tenth can make a big difference. The truth is we weren’t as competitive as we expected to be, but I think we can still recover to have a strong race tomorrow. We really struggled in Q1 where we had to use an extra set of tyres just to make Q2, which meant we only had used tyres when the track was getting better at the end of Q2 and we couldn’t improve. I think our real pace is better than the speed we showed today and if we have a good start we will be in a position to fight for points. The weather could still play a big part, so we’ll go out to try and make up some of the ground we lost today.”

Esteban Ocon, 13th, 1:08.770
“It wasn’t a great qualifying session. For various reasons things just didn’t come together for us. We made a set-up change between final practice and qualifying and it didn’t really bring the benefit we needed. So the car didn’t feel ideal for qualifying. Ahead of the session, I believed we had the potential to make Q3 but it didn’t work out for us. I’ve also got to take the grid penalty [five places] so I will be starting near the back and it’s going to make the race even more difficult. Perhaps some rain tomorrow would work in my favour and allow me to catch up and fight for points.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal & CEO
“We’ve been a little bit on the back foot all weekend with a lack of track time for Sergio and chasing the set-up with Esteban. With those challenges, Q3 was just out of reach today, especially on such a short lap where a few rows of the grid are covered by a few tenths of a second. Let’s see what happens in the race. I think we can be more competitive than today with the potential to score points.”

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