Friday – Force India positions itself in the midfield

On this first day of free practice in Australia, the Force India team can hold their head high. The collaboration with McLaren and Mercedes is bearing fruit to the extent that they have the luxury of placing ahead of their supplier in the afternoon.

Without any particular problem, Adrian Sutil made it into the top 10 in both sessions after leading for several minutes around 5:00 PM local time. His teammate was a bit more restrained with the 14th and 13th fastest times.

Adrian Sutil – 9th and 9th:

« I hope that my position is representative of the place we can occupy in the race, but it’s still very early to say. We had a good session in the afternoon doing some very promising laps. I’m happy with the car, we didn’t have any real problems. The balance depends on the tires. »

« In the second session, we did a race simulation by battling with Bridgestone’s super-softs. I think that, once on track, the rubber of the tires will hold better and the grip will be stronger. Overall, it’s a position that suits me and we can be happy with it. »

Giancarlo Fisichella – 14th – 13th

The car is more efficient at high speed, but so far, I have never been comfortable in the seat with several rear wheel lock-ups. We are in better shape than last year, that I can assure you. We will see tomorrow, but it’s possible to improve overnight.

Simon Roberts – Operations Manager:

« It’s a promising start for this first race weekend. I am very happy with the team’s performance today. We managed to get everything we needed to complete our data. »