Di Resta scores first point in F1 career
The Force India Formula One Team came home in 10th and 11th positions at the end of today's Malaysia Grand Prix. The team is now joint 5th in the Constructors' Championship with four points on the table, and Paul joins Adrian on two Championship points.
Both drivers made a clean race start, however Adrian had to return to the pits for a new nose on lap 3 after a coming together with Barrichello. Paul was the first to make a tyre stop, with a strategy for the race of option/new option/option/new prime, while Adrian ran with option/new option/new prime/option tyres. Paul had a very good race battling with Rosberg and the mid-fielders in the first stint and Schumacher in the second. He made up four places to bring home another point for the team today. Adrian quickly made up lost ground due to the early nose change and was charging through the field for most of the race. He ran consistently in 12th position until a retirement by Petrov led to Adrian crossing the line in a well deserved 11th place.
Adrian Sutil, car 14, VJM04/04, 11th:
The first few laps were not brilliant as I lost my front wing touching Barrichello's rear tyre. Then we had a two-stop strategy, I went into the pits for the soft tyres, then another set of hard and another set of soft, and made them last well, which is positive. We could have been in for a much better finishing position, which is a shame. Overall it was a disappointing weekend for me, but the team did a great job with the pitstops so I'd like to thank them for that.
Paul Di Resta, car 15, VJM04/02, 10th:
I am quite happy I must say. The team did a good job with the strategy. I just could not hold off Michael at the end, he had fresher tyres and we had to stop a bit earlier for my third stop than predicted. But I also did not want to risk the championship point as well. I think the DRS showed some good racing today, so maybe we can be confident that in China our race pace may even be a little bit better. We were battling with cars that were a little bit quicker than us today, so overall I think we had a great race.
Dr. Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal:
Once again, it was a satisfying race for the Force India team. The boys did a great job with the pitstops in very difficult weather conditions and the team's strategies worked very well. Paul did an excellent job coming home in the points once again, while I believe that Adrian would also have finished in the top ten had it not been for the early nose change which altered his two-stop strategy. I am very proud of what the team has achieved here in Sepang this weekend and hope that we can carry this momentum, and great team spirit, with us to the race in China next week.
Temperatures:
Air maximum/minimum: 28.0°C Humidity: 80.0 - 86.2%
Track maximum: 31.0°C Track minimum: 28.0°C
