Force India rely on race pace to fight back
Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix saw Paul Di Resta qualify in tenth place. His team mate at Force India ended up in 13th place after struggling to find some clean air during the second part of qualifying.
Paul Di Resta, VJM06-04: “I think we can feel pretty pleased with tenth because we achieved our target of reaching Q3. I did not quite get the maximum from Q3, because it was difficult to optimise the final sector on my out lap, but we are still in a good position for the race. Tyre wear will play a big role tomorrow because this place is one of the hardest tracks for the tyres. Hopefully that will work to our advantage and we can make some progress with a good strategy and not spend too much time in the pit lane. There will obviously be a lot of cars behind me with new tyres, so the race to the first corner will be crucial.”
Adrian Sutil, VJM06-03: “Q1 went well and my run on the hard tyres gave me some good information before I fitted the mediums. Then Q2 was a bit disappointing because my position on the track for the final run was not ideal. Vergne pulled out of the pits just as I was leaving and I had Nico [Hulkenberg] pushing from behind. Also Webber was on a flying lap and it was difficult to find a gap. I think that’s the main reason why I missed out on Q3 because we had the pace to be in the top ten. I’m sure my car is going to work well tomorrow, but it’s so tough to overtake here and qualifying position is very important.”
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “It’s good to see Paul make it through to Q3 – the first time the team has done so in Barcelona – and it means we’re in a good position to go and fight for points. Adrian has been matching Paul’s pace in all the sessions but his Q2 lap was compromised by track position – he couldn’t get a clean lap and that cost him a few rows on the grid. I expect us to be strong tomorrow and hopefully we can demonstrate the sort of race pace we’ve shown in the previous four races. The car is nicely balanced, we are working the tyres well, and there’s every reason to believe we can come away with two cars inside the points.”
