MOTORING NEWS - Force India are enjoying their highest-scoring Formula One season, the team punching above their weight to secure fourth place in the constructors' championship for the second year in a row.
But, as chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer wryly observes, there is a point at which success is a bit of a mixed blessing.
"Every point we gain now, it doesn't help us to secure fourth but it does cost us in entry for the championship next year, another $5 000 per point to the FIA," the Romanian-born American told Reuters.
"We can't afford that," he added, before a hasty "only joking".
Every point costs $5 161, on top of a basic sum of $516 128, when it comes to calculating a team's 2018 entrance fee. The rate for champions Mercedes is even greater – $6 194 per point and they have 625 so far.
Force India's 177 – four points more than last year's haul – will cost the Silverstone-based team $913 497 on top of the base fee and there is still next week's finale in Abu Dhabi to come.
That is a tidy sum for a team counting ever penny, with a staff of 400 and an annual budget of around $100 million compared to rivals with double the workforce and three times the financial clout.
Force India cannot overhaul third-placed Red Bull, who are 181 points ahead, and nor are they in any danger from fifth-placed Williams on 82.
They will still be pushing hard, however.
Mexican Sergio Perez and French teammate Esteban Ocon are free to race each other, after being reined in as a result of earlier clashes, and will be hoping to wrap up on a high.
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Formula One is far from a level playing field and Szafnauer, who works with deputy principal Bob Fernley to steer the team at the track in the absence of embattled co-owner Vijay Mallya, knows 2018 will be another tough battle.
When it comes to discretionary spend – the amount left over after engine bills, travel costs and staff wages are deducted from the budget – Force India have far less than their main rivals.
"For us that's probably one tenth of what some of the others have," said Szafnauer.
