Sutil optimistic after Japanese Friday

The Force India Formula One Team put in some productive work today at the 4.563km Fuji Speedway, set against the stunning backdrop of Japan's sacred mountain, Mount Fuji. 2006 Japanese F3 champion Adrian Sutil used his extensive experience of the track to finish inside the top 12 in the first practice session, just over one second from the morning's fastest time, and 16th in the afternoon.

Giancarlo Fisichella meanwhile pushed on with his programme of gathering mechanical data and evaluating tyres to end the sessions in 20th and 18th overall. Both drivers were within one second of the fastest time of the day, the closest practice in F1 this season.

The duo will participate in a final practice session tomorrow morning before qualifying for Sunday's 67 lap race.

Adrian Sutil (car 20): "It's been a good day as the car worked well with no problems. The last run in the afternoon was not great as I had some traffic on my quick lap and couldn't improve my time, but at least there is more potential for tomorrow. It's always an advantage if you know the circuit well and I just feel good here. I was quick here last year so I think it's one of my good tracks. I'm looking forward to tomorrow now."

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21): "It was quite a difficult day for me, especially this morning. In the afternoon when we were working on the longer runs we made a step forward with the balance, but we still struggled with oversteer and getting the tyres to work well. We still have a lot to do here, but I'm hopeful we can improve here tomorrow."

Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: "A useful first day of running for us as we worked through our normal programme. We had no real problems on either cars as we evaluated the tyres options available here, and all in all we look to be a lot more competitive than we were in Singapore. We seem to be back on the pace that we showed in previous races, which bodes well for the rest of the weekend."