Saturday: Sutil and Force India’s best qualifying!

The Force India team achieved its best qualifying session since its inception at the Nürburgring, with a 7th place on the grid. Arriving in Germany without significant updates to the car and after a general satisfaction with the package at Silverstone, the team optimized the car’s settings to draw out its essence and reduce the performance gap with the top teams.

Electrified by the idea of driving at home in Germany, Sutil set a very good 14th time in Q1 on a dry track to advance to Q2… but the best was yet to come. Thanks to changing weather conditions in Q2 and a good team strategy, Sutil anticipated the rain and made his entry into Q3 for the first time in his career! The young German will ultimately start in 7th position tomorrow. Fisichella, on the other hand, was stuck in Q1 and will start from 18th place on the grid.

Adrian Sutil – 13th and 7th:

«I am really happy, definitely one of the happiest guys in F1 today! It’s my home race and my best qualifying position in F1 so far, so it’s a great qualifying for us. It was very difficult with the weather, but our decisions were very good and at the right moment, especially in Q2 with the rain. We took a risk with slick tires by putting them on a lap earlier than everyone else, and we set the third-fastest time.»

«Finally, even with the fuel on board, we did well in Q3 and took the 7th fastest time. I am very happy for all the team members. We have worked really hard in the past few months. Now we just need to score some points! »

Giancarlo Fisichella – 15th and 18th:

«Above all, I am really happy for the team and for Adrian with this magnificent qualification. It was an incredible result and with a bit of luck, we will be able to have a good race tomorrow. For me, it was quite disappointing. We went out quite early in the first session and unfortunately, I encountered traffic in each of my attempts. It’s really a shame because with these weather conditions, I think we could have done much better. But there might be changing weather for tomorrow so you never know what can happen.»

Vijay Mallya – Team Principal:

No need to say that I am absolutely delighted with the team’s performance today. We came to Germany hoping to make it to Q2, and we made it to Q3 thanks to a superb performance from the team and a flawless drive from Adrian. Achieving this at home must undoubtedly mean something very special for him. We are now in a good position for tomorrow’s race, and I hope we can finally earn the much-anticipated points.