28/09/2008
NEWS STORY
Today's Singapore Grand Prix, the first night event in the history of Formula One, bore all the hallmarks of a classic race, with close racing, unpredictable incidents and safety cars within seconds of each other. Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella was running as high as third in the early stages of the race, the highest position a Force India car has run this season. The Italian went onto drive a consistent, strong race to finish in 14th position following a long battle with Massa, Raikkonen and Kubica.
Adrian Sutil employed a two stop strategy to fight his way up the field to 11th before his second stop. The German was however unlucky to have a brush with the wall on lap 49 when running behind Felipe Massa. Massa spun and rejoined the race, but in an attempt to avoid hitting the Ferrari, Adrian ran wide across the kerbs and into the barrier himself.
Adrian Sutil: 'I think it was a good race as the race pace was good and I felt really confident in the car. We lost a little in the first safety car period as we were a little too late coming into the pits but after that it was nice to be able to push. It was just so unlucky when Felipe spun in front of me and then suddenly pulled away. The way was blocked, but I avoided a crash with him only to go into the barrier myself. It's really disappointing as we've had so much bad luck already this year. It's Fuji next though, which I really enjoy and know I can perform well on.'
Giancarlo Fisichella: 'It was a long, hard race, but I have to say we really did the maximum possible. A big thank you to everyone on the team who did such a fantastic job to get the car going again after the accidents yesterday and for giving me a car we could really race with. It was great to be back racing again and I think we had a good strategy that let us move up a few places. In the final few laps I had a small problem, but I'm really pleased we could get to the finish.'
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: 'Although it is slightly disappointing not to get two cars to the finish, overall I think we had a good race. We narrowly missed calling Adrian in during the first safety car period, which would have been to his advantage, but with Giancarlo running a long stint we kept him out and that worked to his benefit. Both defended their positions from strong opposition and without Adrian's accident we would have had a strong two car finish. All the same it's been a tough event and we've all pulled together and I think we can be proud of our performance.'
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director: 'It's been a difficult weekend for us, but the team has worked really hard and the teamwork has been excellent. We now move on to some races where the team were very strong last year and we can look to get back to the form of the last three races.'