Force India are enjoying McLaren’s misfortune at present as it’s giving them an chance to extend the gap to the Woking squad in the hope they can stay ahead come the end of the season.
Force India are currently third in the championship, two points ahead of Ferrari and 11 ahead of McLaren who, despite having led the constructors’ championship after Australia thanks to a double podium, have failed to score in the last two races.
Deputy team principal Bob Fernley is hoping McLaren’s struggles will continue and he has no sympathy for their former technical partner.
“Lotus are struggling at the minute and are not where they want to be and McLaren would be our next competitor and they’re struggling too.
“I’m not in the slightest bit sad about that – may their problems not be too insignificant,” he told Autosport.
“It would be hard for us to compete with Red Bull and Mercedes. It’s not going to be easy for us to compete with Ferrari, but for as long as we can, we will.”
Fernley admitted he’s very pleased with their start to the season, and although he says it will be difficult to beat Ferrari, he believes on some circuit’s they will and others they won’t.
“If you look at Ferrari, Bahrain was an Achilles’ heel for them and in China they fit in much better,” he added. “It’s just the DNA of the [circuit] designs in some cases.
“We come out of [these four races] feeling quite pleased.”
