Saturday Report – Disappointment at Force India!

Force India today tried to reach its goal, namely to enter the second part of qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, but in vain…

After a solid performance throughout the weekend, Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil were less than a second away from placing both VJM01 in the top 16. They will start the race in 17th and 19th positions, respectively.

The Italian could not replicate the morning performance that saw him record the 9th fastest time. The team is, however, optimistic about securing a mid-grid position.

Adrian Sutil – 17th and 18th (Qualified 19th):

« It wasn’t as easy in qualifying as it was during the free practice 3, the track conditions were very different from this morning. The grip level was lower. The balance was not satisfactory. On my last lap, everything was going well until the second sector where I went slightly off track. I could no longer control the car.

« It’s a bit sad because I could have caught up with Bourdais, we were close to Q2 so it will probably happen in Malaysia. We are better than last year, which is already an achievement. »

Giancarlo Fisichella – 9th and 16th (Qualified 17th):

Seventeenth, just one place behind the top 16 and entry into Q2, is therefore a bit disappointing given the level of performance achieved so far. In the final part of my fast lap, there was a yellow flag, but there was also a lot of graining on the tires and I lost at least three tenths.

« The team has done everything it could so far, we know that we still have a lot of work to do but we are heading in the right direction. »

Mike Gascoyne – Technical Director

A very disappointing qualifying session for us. Unfortunately, on his last lap, Adrian lost control of his car, and a yellow flag forced Giancarlo to slow down. This small delay was not enough to advance to Q2, but as we showed this morning, we have a car that is very close to the middle of the grid.

« We know that we have a competitive car compared to the others, so it is likely that we will move up a few places tomorrow. »