Force India confident despite Friday interruptions
Sahara Force India started its 100th Grand Prix in style as Paul Di Resta topped the timesheets during a damp morning session. A dry afternoon saw teammate Adrian Sutil finish his day inside the top ten.
Paul Di Resta, VJM06-04: “We were quite cautious with the wet weather this morning and we only fitted the dry tyres for the last few minutes of the session. Before that I had a good run on the intermediates and felt happy with the performance – probably the most comfortable I’ve felt on the intermediates this year. So overall we didn’t look too bad in the damp conditions. The afternoon was a case of getting through the dry tyre programme and trying to find the right car balance. Unfortunately things were cut short with the electrical issue, so I didn’t do the long runs we had planned for the final part of the session.”
Adrian Sutil, VJM06-03: “We had lots of different track conditions today, but the car was quick in both sessions. The wet morning gave us a chance to improve our performance on the intermediates and the car felt good. In the dry this afternoon the main issue was warming up the front tyres, especially the medium tyres. On the supersofts there was much better grip and the long runs seemed quite competitive so it feels as though we are at our usual level here. Tonight we just need to work on making the car more consistent.”
Jakob Andreasen, Chief Race Engineer: “Despite the mixed conditions we’ve come through today pretty well. The wet weather programmes this morning were productive and both drivers feel we’ve made progress with our performance on the intermediate tyre. The dry afternoon gave us a chance to fit the new prototype medium tyre before we switched to the regular compounds for the majority of the session. An electrical issue for Paul interrupted the afternoon and cost him the final half hour of running, but Adrian was able to get the long run data we needed. In terms of performance, the car is working well whatever the conditions, so it’s just a case of seeing what the weather delivers for tomorrow and Sunday.”
