Saturday: Force India lacks grip and misses Q2

Force India hoped to replicate its recent strong qualifying performances in Hungary, aiming for Q2 for both cars. However, the day was difficult for the Indian team: the cars occupied the last positions in morning practice, Adrian Sutil went off track, and ultimately neither car managed to get out of Q1. Fisichella and Sutil will start tomorrow in 17th and 18th positions.

The team downplays the result due to the tightening of car performances but highlights one of the recurring problems of the VJM02, the lack of grip. The goal for tomorrow remains to have a good race to go “on vacation” with a free and upbeat mindset for the next race in Valencia, where Force India will have new developments.

Giancarlo Fisichella – 19th and 17th (16th after Massa’s retirement):

My thoughts are with Felipe right now because he’s a good friend. I hope everything will go well for him. Personally, we knew it would be difficult today with so little grip, but stopping at just one or two-tenths of Q2 is a bit frustrating. The only issue was the lack of adhesion, making it challenging to have a good lap. It’s going to be a complicated race, but I would like to achieve a good result again with the mid-season break, and at the next race, we will have more new developments coming.

Adrian Sutil – 20th and 18th (17th after Massa’s withdrawal):

«First and foremost, I really hope Felipe is okay, I am thinking about him a lot right now. As for us, qualifying was unfortunately not as good as we had hoped. In the morning, I made a mistake by going off track, I lost grip and hit the barriers. The guys did a good job repairing the car, but there was just enough time for two flying laps at the end of the session. We just needed a few tenths more, which would have helped us get into Q2, so without the crash I think we would have been good. In 18th position, we have two cars behind us, but it’s going to be a tough race. »

Dominic Harlow – Chief Race Engineer:

It was very worrying to see Felipe Massa’s accident in the second part of today’s qualifying, and the team sincerely hopes he is well. For us, we missed the target by a tenth and a half, in what was probably one of the tightest F1 qualifying sessions up and down the grid. It shows that with further improvements in car performance for the next Grand Prix, we will be back in the midfield in qualifying. Adrian had a small off-course this morning, and getting the car ready for Q1 kept the team busy, and I have to commend them for their efforts.