25/06/2011
NEWS STORY
It was a strong afternoon for Force India as Adrian Sutil reached Q3 for the first time this season. He will start tomorrow's Grand Prix of Europe from tenth place. Paul Di Resta recovered well from a lack of track time yesterday to qualify in P12.
Adrian Sutil: "The car has been working pretty well all weekend and I felt that we had a good chance to make it through to Q3 today. But I knew that we would have to get the lap just right. That's why this result feels great because I got the maximum from the car. We didn't go out in Q3 because we felt it was better to save another set of soft tyres for the race. Also, we saw in Q2 that Heidfeld was three tenths away and that it would be difficult to improve on P10. So it's a good grid position, but the race is what counts so hopefully we can convert this into points tomorrow."
Paul Di Resta: "After the problems we had in free practice, I knew that I would be on the back foot today having only completed three timed laps yesterday. But we tried our best this morning to get up to speed with the car before qualifying. On my final flying lap in Q2 I was on the edge and simply made a small mistake at turn 17 - I missed a downshift and ran wide. That meant I lost the advantage I'd made at the start of the lap. So I will start from P12, which is not too bad considering all that has happened this weekend. I'm staying positive and think that we can fight for points from there. The only unknowns are that I haven't done a long run on high fuel and it's difficult to know where to start with the aero balance or when to conserve the tyres. So we will try and make the most of what we know."
Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman & Team Principal: "Today's qualifying performance confirms the progress we have made recently with the development of the VJM04. To see Adrian qualify in the top ten, ahead of one of the Renaults, is a tremendous effort and probably the most that we could have expected today. The car has been competitive right from the start of practice and it is satisfying to see that pace translated into a strong starting position. Paul has also done an excellent job after losing nearly all his track time yesterday. To qualify in P12 shows how well the entire team has worked to recover from a difficult situation. For tomorrow, we will fight hard and hopefully bring home some points."
To check out our Valencia qualifying gallery, click here.