Nico Hulkenberg urges Force India to tackle rear grip issue

Lack of rear grip has been a feature of the VJM07 this season and Hulkenberg, who said before the weekend that he expected the car to suit Pirelli's supersoft compound, urged the team to work harder to improve in this area.

"It's been the weakness of the car since day one; we're trying to get better, but it's pretty much a downforce question," Hulkenberg told AUTOSPORT.

"I think performance and speed-wise we wouldn't normally finish fifth, especially [having] the McLarens behind us.

"They were much quicker, but we did a good job.

"Cars dropped out in front of us. If you put them there again we are where we qualified.

"So to put it in perspective you have to give us credit that we maximised an opportunity, which we're very happy about.

"But we need to develop and bring more performance because we're not quick enough."

Hulkenberg reckons Force India's financial efficiency is one of the big reasons it has been able to regularly beat bigger teams such as McLaren and Lotus.

"Force India has never been a works team and never had this massive budget," he said.

"They've always had to take care of their pocket and I think they're very efficient in how they operate.

"There is another step in the pipeline and parts coming, which is important, and then we'll have to understand them and make them work to keep this year going as it is now."