Saturday: Force India can aim for the podium

Adrian Sutil demonstrated this Saturday all his potential as well as that of his single-seater on the selective Suzuka track. Sutil is having an excellent weekend so far, and after a rather interrupted qualifying session due to no less than three red flags, the German driver secured fourth position on the starting grid. He can legitimately aim for the podium tomorrow, especially since the team believes they have an excellent strategy.

By contrast, his teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi does not seem comfortable on this track designed for true drivers, according to the words of the drivers themselves. Reliability issues hindered him this morning and limited his track time. He will start from the last row, in a disappointing 19th place. Additionally, the Italian driver received a penalty for changing his gearbox, which means a drop of 5 places on the starting grid. Force India, upon arriving at the Japanese Grand Prix, was clearly aiming for points and is on track to achieve this with Adrian Sutil. Liuzzi will have a hard task to climb up the hierarchy and try to catch points, but it already seems compromised for him.

Adrian Sutil – 6th and 8th (4th time):

It is always nice to drive on a circuit you know, where you feel good and confident. Our car has been very competitive on this type of circuit in the past and we’ve had a solid weekend so far, but we didn’t expect to be in the top five, so fourth place is a great starting position for tomorrow’s race. It was a long session, with many red flags that forced us to cancel several laps, come back to the pits, and go back on track to focus again. In the end, it was okay and the car was fantastic in the last laps. Third place was very close, just a few hundredths away, but unfortunately, Lewis did what he needed to do at the very end of the session! We had a very tough weekend in Singapore and it’s nice to be back. It’s just fantastic for the team. Tomorrow will be a long and tough race, but I just have to focus on what I need to do. I will do my best.

Vitantonio Liuzzi – 20th and 18th (19th time):

« We had some problems this morning during free practice with the gearbox and couldn’t test what we needed, including the soft tires, which penalized us a lot. The guys did an excellent job changing the gearbox and being ready for qualifying, but we had a lot of understeer in qualifying, and it’s not the optimum result. Additionally, I wasn’t feeling my best today, so it’s a combination of factors that meant I wasn’t at 100%. I obviously hope for much better tomorrow. »

Simon Roberts – Chief Operating Officer:

This is a great result for Adrian and a real boost for the team after a tough Grand Prix weekend in Singapore. He drove fantastically during the qualifications, with only one lap each time to get things done and under a lot of pressure. His efforts were rewarded with a very good starting position. We have high hopes for tomorrow. We also feel that we have the right strategy. Adrian knows the track perfectly and feels confident here. It is unfortunate that Tonio couldn’t get past the Q1 stage, but with the limited time available to change his gearbox between sessions, he couldn’t get the optimal lap. But I want to say “bravo” to the whole team for quickly reacting and I am sure Tonio will come back stronger tomorrow.