The chase for that elusive podium finish continues but Sahara Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg said that his team has the car and technology to achieve a top-3 finish in one of the remaining five races in this year's Formula One Championships.
Sahara Force India enjoyed yet another double points finish in the 2016 Formula One season with Sergio Perez finishing a strong sixth and Nico Hulkenberg eighth at the action-packed Malaysian Grand Prix, in Sepang, Malaysia on Sunday.
Piastri now leads Britain's Norris by 14 points with five rounds and two sprints remaining, while Verstappen has slashed his gap to the Australian to 40 after being 104 behind at the end of August.
Formula One will crown its champion in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both seeking to dethrone Red Bull's Max Verstappen and deny the Dutchman his fifth title in a row.
McLaren's Lando Norris won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to surge 24 points clear in the Formula One championship on Sunday.
Nico Hulkenberg scorched his way to a career-best fourth place and Paul Di Resta finished 10th as Sahara Force India secured 13 points from theaction-packed Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday.
Hulkenberg is the team's reserve driver and has stood in for them three times already since he last raced full time in Formula One with Renault in 2019.
Sahara Force India's Nico Hulkenberg will start Sunday's Australian Grand Prix in the ninth position on the grid while Paul di Resta will begin the season-opening race in 15th position.
Sahara Force India's Nico Hulkenberg qualified 10th but will start Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix from the 15th position on the grid after being handed a five-place penaltly due to an unscheduled gearbox change.
German driver Nico Hulkenberg will race in next year's Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race with Porsche as well as Formula One with Force India, the German manufacturer said in a statement on Thursday.
George Russell took Mercedes' first win of the Formula One season in Canada on Sunday while McLaren's Oscar Piastri went 22 points clear in the championship after teammate Lando Norris smashed into him and retired.
Carlos Sainz completed a double race distance for previously struggling Williams and pushed his Ferrari successor Lewis Hamilton off the top of the testing
Lando Norris won the Austrian Grand Prix and revived his Formula One title bid after fending off championship-leading McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri under race-long pressure on Sunday.
Double world champion Max Verstappen ran away with a Saturday sprint race in a Red Bull one-two at the Austrian Grand Prix.
But there were no bold statements on race day as he struggled to take a point and his team mate Charles Leclerc laboured to an eighth-place finish.
Sahara Force India recorded a double points finish at the home British Grand Prix with Sergio Perez finishing a creditable sixth, just ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg, at Silverstone on Sunday.
Verstappen collided with Leclerc and twice with Mercedes' George Russell after the safety car restart.
Force India conceded fourth place to Williams in the team standings despite Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg securing a doubles points finish in the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix in Monza on Sunday.
Italian police are investigating the theft of a steering wheel from the Force India garages at Monza before last Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, the Formula One team said on Tuesday.
German Adrian Sutil will drive for Sauber next season, the Formula One team said on Friday, replacing Nico Hulkenberg who moved in the opposite direction to Force India last week.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri celebrated pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, his 50th Formula One race, while dejected championship-leading teammate Lando Norris qualified sixth and said he had been "clueless on track".
Sahara Force India ended the 2014 season on a high with Nico Hulkenberg finishing the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in sixth position just ahead of teammate Sergio Perez.
Sahara Force India enjoyed its second successive double points finish with Nico Hulkenberg finishing seventh and Sergio Perez ninth at their home race, British Grand Prix in Silverstone.
Nico Rosberg cruised to victory in the first Formula One race held in Azerbaijan on Sunday and increased his championship lead over Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton to 24 points. While the German enjoyed an uneventful drive in the late afternoon sunshine, triple world champion Hamilton worked up a head of steam as he wrestled with his car's settings without the team being able to help.
Force India's troubles continued at the Formula 1 Shanghai Grand Prix where Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg could only set the 15th and 16th fastest time in qualifying in Shanghai on Sunday.
World champion Max Verstappen took the first pole position of the Formula One season in Bahrain on Friday.
Sahara Force India claimed a historic fourth place finish, their best ever show, 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 in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The final phase of qualifying was halted, with only Piastri and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg having set times, when Sainz slammed backwards into the barriers at the final corner as he prepared to start his flying lap.
McLaren's Lando Norris took pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix sprint on Friday with Mercedes' George Russell denying the Formula One leaders a front row.
Max Verstappen took pole position on Saturday in a wet qualifying for a Canadian Grand Prix
Paul di Resta earned two points for Sahara Force India at an the incident-filled Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that also saw teammate, Nico Hulkenberg endure a crash in the first lap of the race on Sunday.
McLaren's Lando Norris dominated the Singapore Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday to take another chunk out of Max Verstappen's Formula One championship lead.
Lando Norris won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to deliver McLaren's first Formula One constructors' title since 1998
Sahara Force India consolidated its fourth position in the constructors championship by collecting seven points from the Mexican Grand Prix with Nico Hulkenberg finishing seventh and Sergio Perez 10th in Mexico City on Sunday.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen equalled Ayrton Senna's record of eight pole positions in a row.
French driver Esteban Ocon will race for Force Indianext season after agreeing a multi-year deal, the Silverstone-based Formula One team said in a statement at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Thursday. Ocon replaces experienced German Nico Hulkenberg, who is moving to Renault, alongside Mexican Sergio Perez at a team co-owned by Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya and currently fourth in the championship. The 20-year-old is contracted long-term to Mercedes, Force India's engine provider, and made his debut this year with the lowly Manor team as a mid-season replacement for Indonesian Rio Haryanto.
Nico Hulkenberg will continue as a stand-in for Racing Point at Formula One's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, on Sunday, after Mexican Sergio Perez again tested positive for COVID-19, the team said on Friday.
Lando Norris led a McLaren front row sweep in qualifying for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday
Nico Hulkenberg ended his partnership with Sahara Force India on a high as he secured 10 points for the side at the season-closing Brazilian Grand Prix with a fifth place finish, in Sao Paulo on Sunday.
Amidst strong speculations that Nico Hulkenberg will leave Sahara Force India to join Sauber for the next season, Team Prinicpal Vijay Mallya on Sunday said he will reveal the drivers' line-up next month.
