Saturday – No changes for Force India between 2008 and 2009

Force India is one of the few lower-tier teams that do not benefit from the numerous regulation changes. However, the testing has been encouraging since Friday, and Q2 was an achievable goal.

In the end, Sutil and Fisichella are at the back of the grid with only 18th and 19th places. A race with twists and turns is therefore the only chance for the team not to be forgotten.

Adrian Sutil – 14th and 15th (qualified 18th):

« After our performances the day before, we thought we would be able to reach Q2, but it wasn’t possible. Things were going better in practice, but maybe the other teams just hadn’t shown their full potential. »

« We know we have a lot of work, our main problem is that we need much more support. My main goal now is to finish the race tomorrow. Then, we will see where we stand. It’s even tighter than last year. »

Giancarlo Fisichella – 18th and 16th (qualified 19th):

We knew it would be a difficult day today because so far, we have done little pre-season testing. Yet, finishing just two-tenths behind the 2008 world champion is a good result. The tightening of times is striking.

I had a good lap and I’m happy about it because my brakes have been a problem all weekend. But taking that into consideration, the VJM02 really has potential. For tomorrow, the goal, just like my teammate, is to finish the race.

Dominic Harlow – Chief Race Engineer:

« It was a very tight session, it seems that the scope for action is even more limited than last year. Unfortunately, it is not the result we had hoped for as our two drivers narrowly missed out on Q2. The drivers and engineers are doing their best this weekend.

« We need a little more development on the single-seater, but given the delay in our program, we have already made enormous progress. In the race, it will be interesting to see the strategies that will be adopted now that all teams are required to provide the fuel load of their cars two hours after the confirmation of the grid positions. »