Assessment – Some Small Satisfactions for Force India

Force India introduced its new gearbox at this European Grand Prix. Some improvements were felt.

Giancarlo Fisichella finished 14th with three cars behind him, while the young Sutil admitted his mistake in his retirement. The German had started from the pits and aimed for 15th place. It must be noted that the Indian team will score its first point if it happens after an apocalyptic race in terms of retirements, as on this track, they couldn’t take advantage of the novelty effect.

Adrian Sutil – Retirement:

« The first stint went well as I tried to close the gap with the middle of the grid. It’s unfortunate that Giancarlo Fisichella was in front of me because I was faster. I lost a bit of time. After overtaking him, everything was better, but it was difficult to overtake more cars. Then, during hard braking, I lost the rear control of my car, and the tires slowed me down completely… »

Giancarlo Fisichella – 14th:

« It was a difficult race with intense heat, but overall, I think I delivered a good performance. The strategy wasn’t bad, anticipating a safety car after seeing it deployed in other races. Our pace was good, and we made a step forward with our gearbox. We must now continue to make progress. »

Mike Gascoyne – Technical Director:

« Although it is disappointing not to have two cars at the finish, both drivers had excellent races with good pace showing us that this famous step forward was achieved. Adrian Sutil was quite honest in admitting he made a mistake, but up to that point, he was having a very good race.

« We had considered one pit stop for one car and two for the other in order to cover all situations in case of a safety car or not. Sutil, with his two stops, would have been able to finish just behind Fisichella. Overall, it’s been a very positive weekend for the team. »