Friday: The Force is with Sutil at Force India!

The performance of Force India continues to surprise everyone. Adrian Sutil set the fastest time this Friday with 1:24:924 in the second session, compared to 1:24:936 for Hamilton, in a McLaren equipped with KERS, in the first. But these performances are not so surprising if one looks closer.

Firstly, the team has consistently sought aerodynamic support this season on tracks that required it. Multiple appendages appeared at each race. A blessing in disguise, as they have become accustomed to optimizing the performance of Bridgestone tires with low downforce. And with a car streamlined for aerodynamics at Monza, it works brilliantly.

Then, the Mercedes engine, just like for Brawn GP, has its share of the pie. Despite the strict restrictions regarding power units, the engineers from each engine manufacturer always find new paths to explore in order to optimize performance. The engines therefore have slight differences, which make a big difference since every hundredth of a second counts given the tightening of performances. The Ferrari engine is the most fuel-consuming, while the Renault is the most economical. As for the Mercedes engine, it is currently the most powerful and the most flexible in use. The engine torque is maximal over a wider range of RPMs.

Adrian Sutil is no less deserving for it; he was immediately fast and knew how to pinpoint the right setup. And above all, he attacked each of his laps like a man possessed. As for Liuzzi, during his first Grand Prix weekend since the end of 2007, he didn’t take as many risks as his teammate but still improved his time by 7 tenths between the two sessions.

Adrian Sutil – 3rd and 1st :

Everything went well today. The car was running perfectly and we can be very happy with the results. It’s really great to be rewarded for the work done. We found good settings and succeeded in making the tires work well. We didn’t specifically try to go fast, but if you are at the top of what you can do and the car is working well, there is no reason not to be P1 at the end of the session. It was a very productive day on a very nice track.

« I think the curbs are much better now because it’s the same for everyone. In previous years, there were lots of discussions about cars being on the white line and how far they were from it. Now it’s simple, you can’t take the curbs because they’re too high and completely unsettle the car. »

Vitantonio Liuzzi – 16th and 12th:

« Today was more enjoyable than the straight-line test! It’s a completely different approach since you have to get used to the rhythm, the braking points, and I think it’s a big challenge. We did long runs and covered the distance of a race and everything is going in the right direction. At the moment I’m not taking too many risks, as I want to get used to the tires and the car, and tomorrow we will work on lap times for qualifying. We knew we would have a competitive car, I felt the balance was good and I was always missing at least half a second as I had traffic on quite a few of my fastest laps. It’s only the beginning of the weekend but I’m really happy with how my testing went. I think the car is responding really well and we are optimistic for tomorrow. »

Dominic Harlow – chief race engineer :

« A very good first day for Tonio’s return to a racing seat and a productive program for Adrian. We lost a little time with Adrian’s car at the start of the second session after a planned engine change, but once back on track, he made significant progress. The car seems to work perfectly with low downforce in a race setup, but as usual on this demanding circuit, there is a lot of work to do to prepare for qualifying.