Force India still hoping to overtake McLaren in "close fight"

Force India’s team principal Otmar Szafnauer is aiming for a strong finish at the final race of the 2018 calendar in Abu Dhabi.

The Force India boss has set his sights on as many points as possible as the seventh placed team aim to overhaul the 14 point gap to McLaren.

The team had a rough start to the season after they had all their points removed due to the Lawrence Stroll takeover but in the nine races since they’ve performed admirably picking up 48 points.

Szafnauer emphasised the importance of the final Grand Prix of the year saying: “We’ve not delivered the results we needed in the last couple of races, which puts more emphasis on this weekend. Scoring points is a priority as we conclude a close fight in championship.”

Despite this the Romanian insists he’s pleased with the second half if 2019 saying: “Regardless of what happens this weekend, it’s a good opportunity to reflect on our second half of the season.

"It’s been a mixed bag of results with some highs and lows. There’s been a bit of bad luck, a few driver errors and some areas where we need to improve as a team. We will certainly take the lessons learned into next year.”