Monza: Paul di Resta earned four points for Force India from the Italian Grand Prix with an eighth place finish, but his team mate Nico Hulkenberg had to retire in the dying moments of the race despite a superb drive on Sunday.
Di Resta had qualified fourth but started the race in the ninth position due to a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.
Though he could not finish the race, Hulkenberg drove superbly after starting last on the grid as he did not set time in Saturday’s qualifying due to a fuel pressure issue.
The Silverstone-based Indian team remained in the seventh position in the costructors’ championship with 63 points and extended their lead over Williams by 10 points.
Force India now trail Sauber (100) by 37 points and a sixth place finish looks near impossible for them.
Di Resta was trying hard to be in top-10 and succeeded when Jensen Button’s race ended due to a mechanical failure.
From there, Di Resta gained two more places and since he went for a one-stop strategy tyre degradation could have posed a problem but he maintained that position till the end. (PTI)