Vijay Mallya is satisfied with his pair of drivers

The winter episode was marked by uncertainty regarding the second Force India driver. While Paul di Resta was confirmed in his role quite quickly, the name of his teammate was revealed late, after two of the three winter testing sessions.

It was ultimately Adrian Sutil who managed to convince the team to give him a second chance after his forced sabbatical year due, in part, to legal troubles. Some observers then questioned whether the German driver would be able to regain the level he had at the end of 2011.

For Vijay Mallya, owner of the Force India team, this choice was the right one and was confirmed by Sutil’s good skills during the last tests in Barcelona: « I am very happy with our driver duo, and I am particularly pleased to welcome Adrian back to the team. Over the winter, we thought long and hard about this decision and I am sure we made the right choice. Adrian is very fast and has a long history with the team. He’s been with us from the start; he really is part of the family. Everyone was impressed with his performance during the winter tests in Barcelona. He was able to reach a very good pace right from the beginning. »

Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta were already teammates in 2011, a year in which Force India achieved its best ranking in the Constructors’ World Championship with a sixth-place finish. The two drivers know each other well and form a solid duo. Mallya therefore sees no reason why good results should not be forthcoming: « Adrian and Paul form the driver duo that brought us our best championship result in 2011, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t achieve similar results this year. »

During the last free practice sessions in Barcelona, Adrian Sutil completed a total of 171 laps over the three days and set the seventh fastest time, a few hundredths ahead of Paul di Resta.