Adrian Sutil Q&A
Thursday ,28 July 2011
Looking back on the German GP 2011
Adrian Sutil enjoyed a great home race for Force India at the Nurburgring, qualifying eighth and finishing a strong sixth as the best placed driver to run a two-stop strategy. We asked Adrian for his thoughts both on Germany and this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Adrian, how satisfying was it to finish sixth in your home race?
“It was a great result, and of course you have to make the right decisions in the race, and do the right strategy, so it’s not that easy. But in the end we really did everything perfectly last weekend. Everyone in the team deserved that result.”
You were in the top ten on Friday and that form carried over into Saturday and the race. Were you encouraged by the speed of the car through the weekend?
“We had a good tyre run on Friday and I was already quite sure that if it stayed dry, it would be a two-stop race. That was the key in the end. We discussed it together, and we went into the race aiming for a two-stop strategy. And that was probably the reason why I was sixth in the end. The tyres lasted very well for me, probably better than the Mercedes team, and that was probably why we managed to beat both of them.”
The key was that you made a good start, kept in touch with the cars at the front, and got away from the people behind you.
“Yeah, absolutely. The pace was generally there, I was always pushing Nico Rosberg, and also the cars in front of him, Massa and Vettel, were within my pace – a little bit faster, but it was not like the races before, when they were in a different world! That was already a good feeling, and I thought this could be a good race. Everything was just much better last weekend, I had a good feeling with the car, I felt very comfortable, and the pace improved a lot.”
You were close enough that Mark Webber actually came out behind you at the first stops.
“Exactly, I was always in the race. When people pitted I was up to fourth position. Webber came out behind me, and with new tyres on he was much faster, and also on a different strategy. It was important for us to do a clever race as well, not push too much in certain situations. Everything was really good from the start to the end.”
And you had a battle with Jenson Button at one point?
“He was pushing hard. I tried to hold him up as much possible, but I had to lap a car – I think it was Timo Glock – and he let me by very late, so I had a bad exit out of the last corner, and then there was a chance for Jenson to pass me. I think it was a fair manoeuvre. I couldn’t really hold onto his pace, he was just a little bit faster. I was lucky that he had a failure on his car and I got the position back.”
That was the only luck you had, because everyone else ahead finished. The Force India was the fourth fastest car last weekend.
“That’s where we want to be, we want to go back to where we started last year. Now we have to keep this momentum, and score a lot more points. Hopefully we can beat a few of our competitors.”
Hungary is a very different type of circuit. What are your hopes for this weekend?
“It’s a high downforce circuit. I think we have a good package at the moment and I think we’re also going to be quite good there, around the top ten. If we run a good strategy and a good race then points are possible, absolutely. Last year could have been a good race, but then Robert Kubica took me out in the pit stop! There was a little mess there, and I was absolutely in the points already, so that was a shame.”
It’s not fast, but it’s a very technical circuit. Do you enjoy it?
“It’s technical and there’s no time to relax, there’s always a corner coming. It’s a nice circuit, and it would be good to finish the first part of the season with a good result before we go on the summer break. Spa and Monza are always good for us, so there are some good circuits coming up that will suit our car and suit me as well.”
Credit: Force India (www.forceindiaf1.com)
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