Assessment – Saturday – Force India’s hopes are shattered…

Certainly, the Force India team performed better than Super-Aguri, but ultimately it was the 19th and 20th places that were assigned to the drivers, with Fisichella ahead of Sutil.

Unlike other race weekends, the Indian team did not have good practice sessions this Saturday and remained at the back of the grid. Grip issues and unfavorable circumstances explain these performances, a notch below…

Adrian Sutil – 19th and 20th:

« I was unlucky. The first stint was positive with a 1’23”100, which was very good for a first lap. On the second stint, the grip was much better and I had a good feeling, but in the crucial lap, there were cars coming out of the pits. »

« During my last fast lap, I once again had a very good first sector, but my brake disc seemed to have an issue. Braking into the corners became difficult. It’s very disappointing because I thought I was having one of the best qualifying sessions of the season. Let’s hope for more tomorrow. »

Giancarlo Fisichella – 18th and 19th:

« I had some problems on my first fast lap with a drop in grip but also an understeer situation. It’s a bit disappointing after yesterday. It’s difficult to do a proper job with the tires, but right now we’re thinking about what will happen in the race. »

Mike Gascoyne – Technical Director:

« The qualifications and trials this morning were very disappointing for the team. Adrian had a dirty track during his first run, then encountered traffic on the second before experiencing a brake problem on his last outing. This meant that the result could not be exceptional. »

« Giancarlo was slightly luckier in that the grip level of his car was higher than yesterday. However, the fuel level made us about a second slower than yesterday. It is very difficult to understand why today we struggled so much with the tires. We need to work on this point tonight and look for improvements for tomorrow’s race. »