Sahara Force India clinched a historic fourth position overall, its best ever, in the Formula One Championships this season after Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez finished seventh and eighth respectively at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
The team got 10 points from Sunday’s race with Hulkenberg and Perez clocking 50.114s and 58.776s as best lap times to grab six and four points respectively.
With 173 points to its kitty, Sahara Force India secured the fourth position at the Constructors’ Championships, 35 more than closest rival Williams, who secured just two points from the last race of the season with Felipe Massa finishing at the ninth place.
Sahara Force India, who had finished fifth with 136 points last season, thus got the better of McLaren and Williams, who have won the World Championship title as many as eight and nine times respectively in the past.
In Drivers’ Championships, Perez finished seventh overall with 101 points while team-mate Hulkenberg ended at ninth with 72 points.
Sahara Force India had virtually sealed its fourth position after securing 18 points from the rain-hit Brazilian Grand Prix early in the month.
“4th place in Formula 1 World Constructors Championship now secure for Force India.Thank you guys. You are the very best. Am so proud,” Force India co-owner and team principal Vijay Mallya wrote on his twitter handle.
Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg grabbed his maiden Formula One world title by finishing second, behind his Mercedes arch-rival Lewis Hamilton.
Starting the season-ending race at the 21st place, 12 points clear of Hamilton, Rosberg drove superbly to produce a second place finish and clinch his first championship by five points.