Force India’s Adrian Sutil seems happy with his prospects at Force India. A contract in hand and a better outlook for the remaining races has the German in a positive mindset heading off on holiday.
Last years Force India was a bit of an enigma. borrowing from a McLaren technical partnership, the team had a very fast car and this was evidenced by their near win at Spa Francorchamps. This year has been a bit different but with Spa coming up next, Sutil feels that the remaining races will suit their car. He said:
“Last year we had an incredible car there, it was a big advantage. This year, it’s a little bit more consistent tyres. We don’t have that advantage any more. Still we should be able to score a lot of points in the coming races. We have very a good chance in Spa (Belgium on August 29) and Monza (Italy on September 12),” he said.
“Then we go to Singapore which is a bit more difficult course. Korea…nobody knows. Japan and Brazil should suit us well (before the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi). Four of seven…I’m absolutely confident,” said Sutil.
Last years iteration was a fast, low downforce beast that struggled when faced with corners. This years car seems to be bitten by the new tire design and the regulations have had an effect on the teams performance to date.
One could look to McLaren’s chassis to see if their technical partnership with Force India has had a similar effect and you could say yes….sort of. The Woking-based team have been struggling of late as well.
Sutil is pleased with his performance and looking ahead, he has every right to be hopeful. The team have a few steps to make but Sutil feels that an upgrade package should see them back where they belong:
“Generally satisfied, yes. (But) We have to get it upgraded now, we are losing to the competitors, a little bit in the diffuser area. We had not got this new diffuser. (But) It looks good overall,”
Force India have been a terrific story in F1 and last years performance was a real boost to the team. The tire regulations withstanding, perhaps they can achieve an upgrade with the diffuser and find the missing element. We all were sure of their low downforce configuration coming off last years performance but the big key was their medium and slow speed performance and that seemed to still betray them this year.
