Force India encouraged by recent gains

Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley says recent performance improvements have moved the team clear of the midfield and point to a strong 2018 car.

Having scrapped with Williams for fourth in the constructors' championship last year, Force India quickly made the position its own this year and is currently 81 points clear of fifth place in the standings. After another double points finish in Japan - during which Esteban Ocon ran third on the road for a stage - Fernley says Force India is using the gap to the top three teams as a barometer for its development progress.

"We can't live with those top three teams really," Fernley told RACER. "The gap has certainly not decreased over the season. Whether it's grown a great deal I'm not sure. We've probably managed to close it a little bit over the last couple of races but still the gap is significant.

"We're still doing a lot of work on this year's car. I don't consider this year's car as just this year's car, I see it as the start of next year's car."

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And Fernley says there has been no need to change the way Force India allocates its resources despite its comfortable position in the constructors' championship, with the aerodynamic improvements carrying over to 2018.

"I don't think we have to. Firstly because the mechanical side moves in quite quickly in terms of the development of the following year's car, but the aero package has no switchover, it is a continuation. So there's not really a need to move on that.

"We've certainly made a step since Singapore, for sure. And I think that has given us that edge because if you look at the gap between ourselves and the top three at the end of a race in the last few races it has been consistent with the gap between us and the fifth-placed team, whichever one that might be. So we're in nomansland effectively. But saying that it is a good omen for next year."