Force India only beaten by McLaren because of mistakes - Szafnauer

Racing Point Force India boss Otmar Szafnauer claims that the team was only beaten by McLaren in the constructor standings due to mistakes. McLaren finished ten points clear of Force India after the team had their total reset to zero after a consortium saved them from administration.

McLaren's 62 point total was too much for the team to overhaul in the final round. Only Sergio Perez finished in the points at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but his eighth place was not good enough.

Despite their comeback from zero points at the halfway stage of the season, Szafnauer admitted the team had made too many mistakes in 2018.

"Sixth was possible, but we just made some mistakes in the last few races," Szafnauer told Autosport.

"Singapore was a big one, and we had a brake failure in Mexico. So that cost us sixth.

"There were points in the race (in Abu Dhabi) when we were mathematically ahead of McLaren, as before we pitted we were running fifth and sixth, but you've got to wait until the end.

"We're happy-ish. From where we were in Spa, sixth was achievable, but seventh is not bad.

"In Spa we were last, so to come back to seventh was pretty good."

He also highlighted Esteban Ocon's achievements this season as the Frenchman will be replaced at the team by Lance Stroll for the 2019 season although an official announcement has not yet been made.

"He had a great race. He had some great battles with (Max) Verstappen again, clean ones, and I think at one point he avoided Verstappen running into him.

"Had he stayed on his natural line, Verstappen would have hit him. We'll miss him, but he won't be gone forever."