Competitive Friday for Force India
The Force India Formula One Team's recent competitive form continued today in free practice for the Italian Grand Prix at the historic Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Following on from its successful three day test at the same circuit two weeks ago and strong performance in the Belgian Grand Prix, Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella recorded the first and third fastest times in the opening practice session and the 9th and 13th in the second.
A heavy shower before the start of the morning practice dampened the track, however Adrian and Giancarlo took to the circuit immediately on the green light and were able to record their fastest times before a deluge fell and the session was red flagged 10 minutes before its scheduled finish.
The circuit dried for the second session, allowing the team to evaluate its dry set-up and dry tyre options. Adrian's strong lap saw him classified 9th quickest, eight tenths from the fastest time of the day, with Giancarlo just four tenths behind in 13th.
Adrian Sutil: "The first session was very difficult, even in the better conditions in the first 30 minutes. There were some dry and some wet patches and it was very difficult to see where you could go . Even in the second practice there were still some damp parts and it wasn't until the last minute that you could push hard. I am quite happy with the car and didn't really change anything from the set up we developed at the test. We also concentrated on getting the tyres to work. We had a good day and I feel quite confident, so let's see if we can have a good day tomorrow."
Giancarlo Fisichella: "It was a fairly good day, but I think there is still more to come tomorrow. Unfortunately I was just behind Adrian, who was on his out lap, when I was on my fastest lap so I couldn't do the optimum time. I am not 100% happy with the balance as I had a lot of graining on the medium tyres but it wasn't too bad with the hard tyres. We still have to find a compromise with the downforce, but I think we could improve again tomorrow."
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: "A useful first day that I think it continues our stronger form from the past two races. With the difficult conditions in the first session we managed to run both types of wet weather tyres and also completed some running in the dry. Obviously in the second session we had some useful dry running and overall the cars look competitive here again, as we were in the test. We have to see what the weather conditions will give us for tomorrow, but we are well prepared for all eventualities."
