Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the sole Indian representative at the Formula One Grand Prix, managed a lukewarm result at the hands of its driver Nico Hulkenberg who claimed a seventh place finish at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix on October 9, 2012 in Suzuka.
The 25 year old German's praiseworthy finish will guarantee Sahara Force India six valuable points after the Suzuka Grand Prix on the Driver Standings. Hulkenberg glided past his qualifying session by traversing his best laps during the first and second qualifying sessions at 1 minute 32.828 seconds and 1 minute 32.272 seconds, respectively that landed him the tenth spot on the starting grid.
Sahara Force India's other driver and Nico Hulkenberg's team mate Paul Di Resta failed to inspire his Singapore Grand Prix form and finished twelfth on the Suzuka circuit. The Scottish driver could not best his qualifying results and managed best laps at 1 minute 32.898 seconds and 1 minute 32.327 seconds after the first and second qualifiers, in the order of mention. The 26 year old Briton started twelfth on the grid and used 'new soft, new hard, new hard' tyre strategy during the race.
Both the Sahara Force India drivers used the Force India VJM05 formula one car that has been assimilated with a Mercedes-Benz FO 108Z 2.4 litre (146 cu. in.) V8 (90°), naturally aspirated, 18,000 RPM limited with KERS, mid-mounted engine and a seven speed McLaren transmission system.
The 2012 Japanese Formula One Grand Prix was won by the 2011 World Champion Sebastian Vettel from the Red Bull Racing Team, while the second place was captured by Felipe Massa representing the Ferrari Team. The third place podium finish was wrapped off by the crowd favourite and home boy Kamui Kobayashi of the Sauber Formula One team.
Expressing his delight at the impressive seventh place finish at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, Nico Hulkenberg said, “If you had told me before the race that we would finish seventh, I would have taken it straight away - so I’m very happy with today’s result. I made a great start, moving ahead of several cars and was able to keep out of the trouble in turn one. By the end of lap one I was already in eighth and as it turned out we had good pace. The car felt strong throughout the race: there was a nice balance and I was able to chase Lewis and Kimi hard and put pressure on them. They edged away towards the end and for the closing laps I just had to make sure I kept ahead of Maldonado. So another seventh place - a well-deserved result for the team after a tough weekend for the mechanics and six important points for the championship.”
Commenting Hulkenberg's heroics at the Suzuka circuit, Robert Fernley, Sahara Force India, Deputy Team Principal said, “An excellent drive by Nico and very encouraging to see such strong race pace on a track that has never really played to our strengths. We made the right calls on the strategy and for much of the race Nico was up there pushing hard to get ahead of Lewis. Paul’s race was seriously compromised by a poor getaway, which we will investigate, and that meant we missed out on getting both cars in the points. In terms of the championship we’ve edged further ahead of Williams and Sauber remain just about in sight. I’d also like to pay special credit to both sides of the garage for their incredible effort this weekend. We kept them very busy and they did an amazing job under difficult conditions. Overall it’s been a remarkable team effort.”
After the Suzuka Grand Prix results, the Sahara Force India's Di Resta and Hulkenberg rest at 12th and 14th positions in the Formula One Driver Standings, which is lead by Fernando Alonso of team Ferrari with 194 points, followed closely by Red Bull's Vettel at 190 points. Di Resta and Hulkenberg are currently sitting on 44 and 37 points, respectively and will be looking to better their performance in the remaining part of the 2012-13 season. The Indian racing idol and Formula One driver with team HRT Narain Karthikeyan faced another consecutive disappointing result as he retired during the 32nd lap of the 53 lap Suzuka Grand Prix.
