Force India keen to try 'riskier' parts in final races

Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez finished fifth and seventh respectively in the Mexican Grand Prix to move the team 99 points clear of fifth-placed Williams with only a maximum of 86 left up for grabs.

"It's a great achievement for the team," said chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer. "But [what] we now got to do is utilise the fact that we've done it to our advantage.

"So we got to think differently in the next two races and do experiments or do things differently that will help for next year at the expense of this year, because this year doesn't matter.

"We are going to go back and plan for next two races and maybe [there are] some components we want to try that are a bit more risky.

"Just go ahead and try. If we lose some time on a Friday, big deal."

Force India has scored points with both cars in 15 out of 18 races so far this season, with the team bringing updates to the VJM10 throughout the year.

However, deputy team principal Bob Fernley says the team needs to improve the consistency of the updates and feels a stronger start to 2018 is key if it is to have any hope of securing fourth for a third consecutive year.

"At the start of the season, we had the drivers and reliability to make sure we would position ourselves well but knowing we wouldn't necessarily have the outright pace," he told Motorsport.com.

"Through the season, we didn't quite get the upgrades we would have liked to have but come the Asian leg, the upgrades we have put in have worked. That has given us the fourth-best chassis as well as being the fourth-best racing team.

"Now we have to work on that for next year, as it will become more difficult next year.

"We have to be clear that McLaren is looking very strong from a chassis point of view and there are improvements coming with the Renault as well. So we won't have it easy."