Austin (Texas), Nov 19 (IANS) Sahara Force India's Nico Hulkenberg withstood intense pressure from rival Williams to finish eighth in the Formula One United States Grand Prix here.
Hulkenberg, who started sixth on the grid, held off the challenge from Pastor Maldonando and Bruno Senna towards the end of the 56?lap race to collect four points Sunday. Paul di Resta in the other Force India came home in 15th place.
It was Hulkenberg's fourth points finish in the last five races, coming after the opening lap retirement in Abu Dhabi. Di Resta's form has dipped with the Scot scoring once in the last five rounds.
"Another tough race but very satisfying to have so many good battles and score another four points. I think we squeezed the maximum from the car and should be pleased with what we achieved. For the first few laps we looked very strong, but after lap ten the tyres started to fade away. When we switched to the hard tyres we were not so competitive so it was just a case of pushing hard to stay in the points," said Hulkenberg, who will drive for Sauber next season.
Commenting on his fight with the two Williams, Hulkenberg said: "The last few laps were not easy because I was getting massive pressure from the Williams pair, who were very quick through sector one. They had the advantage of DRS and it was not easy to keep them behind me. There was quite a bit of fighting but I managed to stay ahead."
Di Resta, however, struggled with tyres and a spin at turn 19 further ruined his chances.
"I was just trying a bit too hard to keep the cars behind me. That gave me some flat spots on my tyres so I had to pit for a second time. From there it was difficult to fight back because it was a clear one?stop race," said di Resta.
Force India look set to finish seventh in the team championships. They have 99 points to Williams' 76 ahead of the final race in Brazil.
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