Force India Indian GP race report

Sahara Force India finished in the points in the team’s home race as Adrian Sutil raced hard to a well-earned ninth place finish. Team-mate Paul Di Resta tried an aggressive strategy and came home in P13.

Adrian Sutil, Force India F1 Team

Photo by: xpb.cc

P9 Adrian Sutil, VJM04/04

Tyre strategy: Used soft, new soft, new hard

Adrian: “It was quite a good race and I think we can be happy with the two points today. In the early laps I struggled with the rear of the car, with a bit of oversteer, and could not hold off the Toro Rossos who were a bit quicker today. But in the second and third stint the car balance improved and I was able to keep the Sauber [Perez] behind me in the closing laps. We were also fortunate that Buemi retired, which gave me another position. I think ninth was probably the maximum today and I hope Vijay will have a smile on his face tonight.”

P13 Paul Di Resta, VJM04/02

Tyre strategy: New hard, used soft, used soft, new soft.

Paul di Resta, Force India F1 Team

Photo by: xpb.cc

Paul: “We went for a fairly aggressive strategy today – starting on the hard tyre – and it was always the plan to come in early with the hope of a safety car. It was a gamble to get rid of the hard tyre early on, and if it had worked we would have gained a pit stop and done the race on three sets of softs, which was the quickest way.

We had to do three stops because of the tyre wear, which was quite high to begin with, but got better later in the race. It’s good that Adrian has picked up a couple of points, which are valuable for the championship, and that was the reason why we split the strategies.”

Dr. Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director

“Today’s Indian Grand Prix was a great event and I hope that all the fans enjoyed the day as much as I did. We targeted points and that’s exactly what we delivered with Adrian’s excellent drive to ninth. As for Paul, he performed well, but we went very aggressive with the strategy to cover the chance of a safety car. In the end it didn’t work out, but we needed to cover our bases.

These two points are important for our championship battle and I’m delighted that Sahara Force India will go down in the record books for scoring points in the inaugural Indian Grand Prix.”

“Regarding my decision about the 2012 drivers, I have said this week that I will give an answer to the drivers before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. I already have three excellent drivers, who are all in the running, and the decision ahead will not be an easy one.”