Best result for Force India since debut
The Force India Formula One Team today achieved its early season objective of a double race finish, securing two top 12 finishes in the Australian Grand Prix. After a thrilling and unpredictable race Adrian Sutil finished in 10th position with Giancarlo Fisichella 12th, marking the team's best result since its 2008 debut.
For the second consecutive year Albert Park's first corner yielded a chaotic start, this time to the misfortune of Adrian, who lost part of his front wing and was forced to pit. Dropped to the rear of the field, he nevertheless drove a measured, consistent race and kept clear of the numerous accidents to claim his best result in over a year.
Giancarlo meanwhile demonstrated the much improved pace of the VJM02 and by lap 12 was in a points-scoring position. When the first safety car was deployed Giancarlo had graduated to fourth position, however an unfortunate mistake on entering the pitlane cost him crucial seconds and he rejoined in 14th position. Undeterred, the Italian pushed until the end and, like his team-mate, recorded very competitive lap times right to the finish of the race.
The team will now travel directly to Malaysia for the second race of the championship in just one week's time.
Adrian Sutil: "As expected we got a very exciting race! I had a good start, but in the first corner I think Webber slowed down and there was nowhere I could go. I damaged my front wing and had to get the car back to the pits. I lost some time behind Heidfeld's BMW: I was faster but there was no way I could get through. After the first safety car everything was fine - we had a good strategy with a short stint on the soft tyres in the middle. On the restart I could get past a few cars and then on the hard tyre it went really well. I could finish in 10th position - I think we can be happy with this."
Giancarlo Fisichella: "I'm very disappointed with the mistake I made in the pit stop. I was just confused with last year as we were always in the last slot in the pitlane, so I just overshot and had to be pulled back into the pits. I'm really sad about this as I think we could have got a good result. We can take some positives away from this race though - we were able to fight with the others and the car felt good over the race. I'm really looking forward to Malaysia now."
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal: "I am absolutely delighted with the result we have achieved here today. Considering the relatively late debut of the VJM02 and the changes we have implemented over the winter, getting two cars to the finish is a fantastic achievement. Both drivers had overall excellent races and showed that we have made improvements to both the pace and the balance of the car this year. Given our objective was just to finish this race, to do so with both cars in the top 12 is well beyond our expectations. It's a good foundation for this year."
