Clutch problem for Sutil
The Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team's fortunes were little improved in the second day of the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, with Christijan Albers and Adrian Sutil qualifying in 21st and 22nd positions respectively.
In much sunnier weather conditions than yesterday, Christijan completed two runs on the Bridgestone Potenza soft tyre, recording a 1:17.826 lap on his first run of the session. Adrian had completed one run, but on starting his second, his F8-VII developed a clutch problem that saw him eventually pull off the track. Unable to improve his time, Adrian will start tomorrow's race from the final spot on the grid.
Adrian Sutil "Q1 was OK, I just did a safe lap at the start of the session. The car felt good and on the second run I wanted to push a bit more. It was much better than yesterday and I think I could have been about half a second quicker, but then I had a clutch problem and couldn't do any more laps. It might not have made a lot of difference, I could maybe have been P21, but our race pace is better and hopefully the rain will come so you never know what will happen."
Christijan Albers "Today was tough for the team. We tried out some different electronic systems, and some different things for me to feel more comfortable set-up wise. We are getting there, so it was better from this point of view, but as far as the team is concerned, we are not so happy to be as far away from the front of the grid. We still have to work really hard."
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer "A fairly disappointing Qualifying session, with neither driver able to improve on the second run. Adrian stopped with a clutch problem, but in a session that looked to be faster than the morning's, we weren't able to match these times in the afternoon. Although it certainly would not have changed our Qualifying position, it is frustrating not to be able to improve. With rain forecast for tomorrow though, the order could be mixed up so we now have to look to get the strategy right and put on a much better showing."
Adrian Sutil (car 20, F8-VII/03):
FP3: 21st 1:17.517 (21 laps)
Q1: 22nd 1:17.915 (5 laps)
Christijan Albers (car 21, F8-VII/01):
FP3: 22nd 1:17.705 (23 laps)
Q1: 21st 1:17.826 (6 laps)
