Force India won’t compromise 2017 in fight with Williams

Williams was 51 points ahead after the first five races of the season, but Force India has largely outperformed its rival since Monaco, more than halving the deficit.

“Silverstone reduced the gap down to 19 points, with 11 races to go,” Fernley told Motorsport.com. “So there’s everything to fight for.

"It was a perfect result for us because we reduced the gap significantly, as 14 points in one race is a pretty big haul for a midfield team. And we increased the gap on Toro Rosso. And it was optimum, finishing in sixth and seventh for our drivers.”

Fernley says that the team won’t switch its development focus back to 2016 car, having decided to concentrate on next year.

“I don’t think we need to do that. I think we need to assess where we are at the summer break.

"We’ve now had a circuit that was probably more favourable to Williams than Force India, and we came out on top. Now we go to Hungary and Germany, and certainly one of them may favour us a little bit more.

"I’d like to see where we are prior to the summer break, and look at what we’ve got to do to if we can get that fourth place.

“We won’t develop more. It’s going to be what we can pull out [of this car], but I see no evidence at the moment that says we can’t take the fight to Williams.”