Force India qualify on second row ignoring off-track issues

Racing Point Force India. The name doesn’t just feel right does it. We want the old Sahara Force India back. Well, they did answer our prayers and then some more as the cars qualified third and fourth at Belgium, a race in which they were not sure they’d be participating in.

Esteban Ocon ended up third on the grid ahead of teammate, Sergio Perez, and both of them qualified ahead of the faster cars of Raikkonen, Verstappen and Ricciardo. Force India have great memories of Spa (they achieved their only pole there in 2009) and this just adds to it.

What makes it even sweeter is that the team was unsure of its footing mere days before the weekend. Lawrence Stroll-led investors seemed to have rescued them from shutting shop but then it emerged that the appropriate approvals were not taken on time.

To add to that, their development driver, Nikita Mazepin’s father, Dmitry Mazepin, alleged the same thing, considering that he was Stroll’s rival bidder. At one point, it looked like they’d be banned just from Spa, their beloved circuit, because it seemed like the change of name wouldn’t take place in time.

However, this is Force India we are talking about. The pressure of failing has never got to them, even when faced with the most adverse of situations. What could be more challenging than your job on the line? Well, just ask Ocon and Perez, who have shrugged it off all season.

Perez went as far as to start legal proceedings to save his team. Which is what makes today’s qualifying result all the more better. It is tough to imagine any worse situation than what was plaguing them but as is always the case, they rose above it.

Their social media team has been brilliant all the time and they even had a sense of humour about the whole thing. The spirit is what matters in times like these and no one can deny the fact that Force India have plenty of it. And then some more.