12/11/2010
NEWS STORY
After claiming Force India will never win a race, Adrian Sutil now says he is confident the team is moving in the right direction. Having endured a difficult second half to the 2010 season, and no better offers on the table, the German is seemingly resigned to another year with the Silverstone-based team.
Speaking to the media in Abu Dhabi, Sutil said: "You have to look how strong your car is and then set your target, but you can't dream of winning races with a car that's not capable of doing that. You have to be realistic.
"We lost a little bit in the last end of the season, but nothing to be really concerned at. The main loss was in qualifying. The race pace is still good and we're always very close or in the top ten, so scoring a lot of points."
Both Force Indias have fallen down the order in recent races, Sutil qualifying 18th in Brazil with teammate Liuzzi only one spot better off. The downturn in performance has been due rival teams developing at a faster rate claims the German, coupled with the fact that the team has been unable to come to grips with the blown diffuser.
"A few teams improved their car a lot," he claims. "They struggled at the beginning like Sauber and Williams, that's why we probably also looked better at the beginning of this season."
In spite of the difficulties faced in the latter part of the year the 27-year-old believes the season has been a success. "This year I didn't really do much of a mistake, at least I can't remember too many," he claims. "That was my aim this year as well as to do a consistent season without any incidents. I think only the Korea race was one of the races where I personally did a mistake and that's where I'll learn from. The car was not brilliant but I could have done better."
Sutil last scored points in Singapore where he finished ninth, though a string of points finishes in the early part of the season have kept him in seventh in the drivers standings, equal on points with Rubens Barrichello. The team resides seventh, a single point behind Williams. The figures are only a mild improvement on 2009 where Sutil was seventeenth in the standings while the team finished ninth.
Though linked with a move to Ferrari, among others, his future remains unclear. With all the leading seats filled for 2010 the German seems resigned to staying with Force India, though he admits that nothing has yet been agreed. "I haven't signed anything yet, but it's going in this direction."