---
title: "Force India F1 Team Turns the Page After Australia and Focuses on Bahrain"
description: "Force India's pink-colored F1 cars narrowly missed out on points in the season's opening Grand Prix."
date: "2018-03-25"
modified: "2018-03-25"
authors:
  - name: "Jerry Perez"
    job_title: "Deputy Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/jerry-perez"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/19619/force-india-f1-team-turns-the-page-after-australia-and-focuses-on-bahrain"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Australian Grand Prix"
  - "Bahrain Grand Prix"
  - "Force India"
  - "Formula 1"
  - "News"
  - "racing"
  - "Racing News"
  - "Sergio Perez"
---

# Force India F1 Team Turns the Page After Australia and Focuses on Bahrain

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2018/03/jm1825ma523.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

The Force India Formula 1 team didn't enjoy the [start of the season](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/19511/ex-formula-1-driver-stefan-johansson-tests-virtual-f1-car-with-new-halo-device>) the way it wanted t, with both of its bright-liveried race cars finishing outside the top 10, and therefore outside of the championship points.

This year's car, the VJM11, didn't exactly set the timesheets on fire during the pre-season [testing](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/19548/5-things-we-learned-from-f1s-first-friday-free-practice-sessions>) in Barcelona, Spain, but it also wasn't a dud. By all means, the Mercedes-Benz powerplant had in speed and power what the chassis didn't in downforce and mechanical grip. And despite showing up in Australia with an entirely new aero kit, Force India struggled to find a decent pace around Melbourne's Albert Park Circuit.

![message-editor%2F1522005442129-jm1825ma593.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/message-editor/1522005442129-jm1825ma593.jpg>)
*Force India*

![message-editor%2F1522005463281-jm1825ma594.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/message-editor/1522005463281-jm1825ma594.jpg>)
*Force India*

"It’s early days in the season and with twenty races to go there will be plenty of opportunities to develop this car and show our strengths," said Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal. "As I said yesterday, we’re on a learning curve with the developments we introduced this weekend and there’s more in the pipeline for Bahrain. Both drivers drove well today, but the luck didn’t play into our hands with the timing of the safety car, for example."

The team's number one driver, Sergio Perez, [started in 12th place](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/19598/lewis-hamilton-secures-pole-for-the-2018-australian-grand-prix>) and enjoyed a rather uneventful race. The Mexican was stuck behind a dehydrated Carlos Sainz for most of the second half of the Grand Prix and eventually finished in 11th spot, barely missing out on championship points.

“It was quite an unlucky weekend for us, but there are still positives to take from this race. We came close to bringing home a point although it was just out of reach," said Perez. "I was pushing throughout the whole race and especially chasing Sainz in the final laps. I got really close to him, but it wasn’t enough. The Virtual Safety Car also didn’t help us at all, but that’s just how things go sometimes. I am still happy with my performance and the job we did as a team. We will need to move on and keep improving, but I believe we will soon be in a position to battle for points. Hopefully, our improvements will come as early as Bahrain."

![message-editor%2F1522005482104-jm1825ma253.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/message-editor/1522005482104-jm1825ma253.jpg>)
*Force India*

![message-editor%2F1522005495456-jm1825ma234.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/message-editor/1522005495456-jm1825ma234.jpg>)
*Force India*

Esteban Ocon followed a nearly identical racing strategy as Perez, which saw him stay on the Ultra Soft Pirelli tires until lap 23 when he made his only pit stop and switched to the Soft compound. In the end, Ocon finished right behind his teammate in 12th spot.

“[Not an easy race today](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/19612/heartbreak-for-american-haas-f1-team-after-pit-stop-problems-in-australia>). It was very difficult to overtake and even though I managed to jump ahead of Lance \[Stroll\] on the first lap, everybody quickly spread out until the safety car," said Ocon. "I had a fight with Bottas for a while and after the safety car restart, I was close to making a move on Sergio. We certainly had better race pace compared to our qualifying pace, but we are just missing some performance to be up there in the top ten at the moment," he added.

## Author
Jerry is responsible for upholding The Drive's ethos as an audience-first, enthusiast-driven car blog that serves up industry-leading news, reviews, culture, and motorsport coverage. Overseeing a staff of writers and editors from his home base in Indianapolis, he helps curate the site's daily rundown, as well as its medium- and long-term content strategies. Jerry joined The Drive in 2018 as a writer and worked as news editor and managing editor before becoming the deputy in 2023. As a lifelong car enthusiast and racing fan, Jerry believes that all cars are cool, but the people behind the machines are even cooler. This belief often gives The Drive a slightly different focus from most other car sites, where we explore the humanity behind the machines. When he's not obsessing over the day's biggest stories or hanging out at a race track, Jerry can be found behind the wheel of a car, most likely sharing a laugh with his teenage son or daughter.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/drive_jerry/>)