With just the Hungarian GP to go before the Formula One season goes into a month-long break, Force India driver Adrian Sutil looks forward to some rest. Barring the German GP last weekend, in which he finished 17th, the German has put up a gritty performance. With some changes lined up on the car, he is determined to put up a better show. Excerpts:
Things seem to be going pretty well for Force India and you in particular. What are your thoughts?
The first half of the year has been my most successful period in F1 so far. It’s been great to be able to do that with Force India. After three difficult years, we’ve grown together and are having some really good results. The team has matured a lot, everyone works well together - there are no dramas, just everyone working together, very focused on the job. We know our strengths and we work to maximise them. That is what comes from a long working relationship. We’ve been consistently in the points this year, which shows how well it’s gelling. I’m excited by the developments in the offing for the rest of the season and we go to some tracks that should suit us very well. So it all looks good.
You are just three points behind Michael Schumacher and 10th in the driver standings. You would like to get past him, wouldn’t you?
Of course! But you see any driver ahead of you as a rival, not just Michael. He was a hero of mine when I was growing up and starting racing. But now he is an opponent on the track and when I am racing him I don’t hold back just because it is him. It feels good to be just behind a seven-time world champion, but it will feel even better to be ahead of him!
Force India have established themselves as reliable players. What next?
This year, we have been very reliable and also consistently running towards the front. We have some new developments that should maintain our performance but the competition is getting tougher and tougher. We want to get back to fifth in the championship but we also need to consolidate ourselves in sixth. That means fully focusing on each and every race.
You would obviously be looking to qualify higher...
Qualifying in the last three races has not been ideal but I’m not worried. In Silverstone, we just missed out on an optimum lap time and in Valencia we couldn’t get the softer tyres to work as well as we would have liked. But the speed is definitely there. Hockenheim, for obvious reasons, was not as planned! But it’s not a worry at all. We know the race pace is strong and in two of those three races I’ve still scored points.
After Hungary, comes a good break. Any major upgrades?
In Hungary, we will test the blown diffuser and get as much information as possible to use it in races in the remainder of the season. We will also continue our aero development programme until the later stage of the year as we want to maintain sixth position in the championship, if not higher. I’m looking forward to the break now.
