Opinion: How Force India won F1's annual game of musical chairs

Putting aside an overly brave target of a top-three finish set at the team's 2017 car launch (a target that was sensibly written off before the car had even completed a racing lap), Force India's campaign so far has been an unqualified, unquestionable success.

This hasn't been a record start in terms of points scored or podiums accrued but, in terms of the big picture, after a pre-season that had promised a comfortable breakaway by the big three and a very close midfield scrap, Force India has put up frankly remarkable numbers.

Its nearest chaser Toro Rosso is 42 points behind, which is one point more than Force India itself trails Red Bull by.

Of course, that's not down to any one factor primarily – it never is. Force India wouldn't such a healthy gap over fifth place if the Andrew Green-led technical team hadn't managed to significantly improve what, according to Sergio Perez, had started off "one of the slowest cars in the midfield". Or if the other teams around it had found a bit more consistency and, arguably, a bit more luck.

But the team's driver line-up has had a major influence, too, and it is very impressive that Force India had managed not only to consolidate, but to strengthen its position in the standings despite its long-relied on line-up having been raided by a works team last year.

Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India F1 VJM10, Esteban Ocon, Sahara Force India F1 VJM10 and Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1 Team RS17

Photo by: Andrew Hone / LAT Images

Force India has relied on a fairly consistent cast of characters on its driving strength over its F1 history so far, and its line-up had gone unchanged between 2014 and 2016.

That the team felt little need to change is not surprising, as the pairing of Perez and Nico Hulkenberg was recognised by most in the sport as a very good one indeed. But neither had entered F1 aiming for a midfield career, so it couldn't last forever.

So while a drawn out contract extension process with Perez and his sponsors did eventually lead to the Mexican staying put (albeit with an understanding that he had his sights set on a possible Ferrari seat in 2018), Hulkenberg moved on, his Renault link going from 'emerging interest' to 'move confirmed' in mere days.

And yet, by all accounts, Force India did little to complicate Hulkenberg's exit and instead quickly looked to find a replacement. Daniil Kvyat was mentioned, Jolyon Palmer was mentioned, the likes of Esteban Gutierrez, Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr reportedly harboured outside hopes and Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein was understood to be a genuine option.

But it's Esteban Ocon the team went with, a driver Force India had run in testing and was happy to sign over his long-time suitors at Renault, which was understood to have been deterred by his Mercedes contract.

Six top-10 finishes later and more than a year-and-a-half left on Ocon's Force India deal, the team's decision looks like a genuine masterstroke.

Esteban Ocon, Sahara Force India F1

Photo by: Sutton Images

There's frequently a lot of scepticism surrounding any emerging young talent in F1 – some warranted, some less so – if the driver is perceived to be over-hyped.

In Ocon's case, you could mention that he's only beaten Sergio Perez once in qualifying so far, with help from yellow flags in Q1 in Bahrain. He's also only finished ahead of the Mexican once, in Monaco, the only race where Force India didn't score with both or either car.

But his team bosses won't care one bit and Ocon himself surely can't be too disheartened by trailing Perez by 17 points, given how the season so far is unfolding for drivers of similar experience levels.

In a campaign where teammate gaps have largely ballooned across the board thanks to F1's new quicker and tougher-to-drive cars, Ocon has started the season as his team's second driver – but he was closer than many to his number-one teammate and he's been gaining ground inescapably.

In three Q3 appearances, Ocon was a tenth off Perez in Russia, a couple of tenths off in Spain, a tenth off in Canada. The Mexican has an edge still but it is no longer an obvious one.

The Canadian GP row with Perez, which will have shined a spotlight on Ocon's progress, was admittedly helped by the pair being on different strategies, but it is hard to imagine such a situation occurring in the near future at Williams, Renault or McLaren – and not just because two of those three teams are probably not fighting for podiums any time soon.

Esteban Ocon, Sahara Force India VJM10

Photo by: Sutton Images

Equally important is that Ocon has managed to limit the kind of mistakes that you would expect from a relative newcomer in F1's new-generation cars.

The only somewhat major blot on his copybook so far has been a costly FP3 off in Monaco that compromised his qualifying run, but even in that race the Frenchman was still very possibly heading for the points until his race was ruined by an unlucky puncture.

Otherwise, he has been superb, playing a big part in what teammate Perez dubbed as Force India's early-season "big miracles" as the team capitalised on every opportunity – and further bolstering its points reserves now that the car has improved.

Ocon's consistency is no huge surprise to those who recall his title-winning GP3 season, in which the Frenchman – in a series that uses the reversed-grid rule – strung together an extremely unlikely streak of nine consecutive second-place finishes.

And, on a more general note, it would be a massive disservice to the junior single-seater ladder to be at all caught out by the fact that a driver who triumphed in European F3 and GP3 on his first attempt and has been on various F1 teams' radars for ages is - big shock - actually pretty good.

But Ocon seriously stands out compared to 2017 F1 drivers of similar grand prix experience levels – Stoffel Vandoorne's muted start to life at McLaren has been a major source of frustration to those who have seen him dazzle in Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2; Lance Stroll has yet to fully find his feet since his F1 graduation, a confidence-boosting Canadian GP result aside; and Palmer, who acquitted himself decently towards the end of last year, has so far been nowhere near new teammate Hulkenberg.

Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez at the Sahara Force India launch

Photo by: LAT Images

It is very possible that Ocon will have proven the most valuable acquisition of the driver market this off-season.

Admittedly, his benefactors at Mercedes could argue the move for Valtteri Bottas has been just as much of a success, in that Silver Arrows have found a fine, virtually like-for-like replacement for Nico Rosberg on very short notice.

Haas's move for Kevin Magnussen has also looked a good one so far, even if the results haven't fully reflected that, and while Wehrlein has had the injury problem and hasn't found great consistency, he excelled when it counted most to make sure Sauber didn't have to worry about a pointless season.

Yet calling up 20-year-old Ocon, a driver who had nine grands prix under his belt before arriving at the fourth-best team in F1, feels like a bigger gamble than the aforementioned, even with the benefit of hindsight.

So far, the decision has more than paid off. In a team that is seen by many as the best value-for-money operation in Formula 1, the Frenchman has fit in perfectly, maximising opportunities and making sure the outfit can rely on him as a consistent source of valuable points.

He's been progressing rapidly, too, and is on a two-year deal – with deputy team principal Bob Fernley having insisted, even before the season, that Ocon would see out the contract.

A solid start is no guarantee of anything, of course – ask Force India's 2011 rookie Paul di Resta, who impressed early in his F1 career but was out after three seasons.

But for now there's every reason to get excited – and, for Force India, every reason to feel it has won big in the 2016-17 edition of the F1 driver market's game of musical chairs.