Assessment: The performances are there, luck will come for Force India!
Even if the only Force India finished last at the end of this 2009 Spanish Grand Prix, the team believes in the new potential of the VJM-02 and is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to prove its form in the upcoming races. Indeed, here in Barcelona, the team was unlucky. Sutil had an unavoidable collision with […]
Even if the only Force India finished last at the end of this 2009 Spanish Grand Prix, the team believes in the new potential of the VJM-02 and is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to prove its form in the upcoming races. Indeed, here in Barcelona, the team was unlucky. Sutil had an unavoidable collision with Trulli at the start of the race, while Fisichella encountered an issue with the refueler.
The outcome of the Grand Prix is therefore gloomy, and yet, Fisichella finishes 14th while setting the 9th fastest lap in the race. The VJM-02 is more competitive than ever, and the Monaco GP in two weeks might be the breakthrough for the Indian team.
Adrian Sutil – Retirement:
« I got a good start, but then, when I accelerated to enter turn 3, I saw a car drifting towards me. Jarno Trulli spun out in the corner and ended up right in front of me. I couldn’t avoid him. He came too quickly. My car was too damaged, and I had to stop. I wasn’t angry, just disappointed that I couldn’t finish the race. I watched the video of the accident afterward. These are things that happen at the start, that’s all… »
Giancarlo Fisichella – 14th:
« The first corner was quite ‘chaotic’. We didn’t really know where to focus and there was debris all over the track. I got hit by some which hindered me. At the end of the lap, we decided to change tires while the safety car was coming onto the track. Then we changed strategy, which turned out to be a good choice in the end. »
« At the beginning of the GP, the car was quite heavy, and I was trying to hold my position. Then the car got lighter, and I was able to improve performance. In fact, in the last 10 laps, I was among the fastest on the track. Unfortunately, during our last pit stop, we had a problem with the fuel. I had to come back the next lap to be refueled. That cost me catching up to Nakajima. Nevertheless, the car and balance were good. It’s a good sign for future races. »
Vijay Mallya – Director:
« Although the result is quite average for us, I believe we can take away a lot of positive aspects. We will try to keep the best settings for the upcoming races, and even if we haven’t improved our place in the hierarchy, we are closer than ever to the others. »
« We have shown that we can be fast and that we have the potential to go higher. We must now look to the future and Monaco more or less calmly: we will have improvements arriving there. It has always been a good race for us in the past. »
