Friday: Force India shines in wet conditions

Very good day for the Force India team, placing a car in the top 6 in both sessions. The weather already played its part on this first day of the German weekend. Fisichella was the first victim under a shower this afternoon. The Italian spun out and came to a stop. His session was lost with only three laps completed. He made up for it with his beautiful 5th place in the morning.

On Sutil’s side, the same observation but in reverse with a nice 6th place this afternoon whereas the morning was tougher. He was hindered by several mechanical issues. Nevertheless, Force India is in good shape on the Nurburgring circuit and is looking forward to the qualifications with Q2 as the target.

Adrian Sutil – 20th and 6th:

It was a good Friday for us, which showed real improvements compared to previous weekends. Sixth was a good effort from the team who felt this result was very good. I think it will be difficult to get into the top 10 tomorrow, but I feel that a good performance in Q2 is realistic. The day started badly when I had a problem in the morning that limited my number of laps. In the afternoon, I also had a small issue with the cockpit. We were able to test a few elements, including the tire ranges used here. It’s hard to truly describe our performance level. In any case, it’s a good start. In addition, there were the weather conditions, typical of the Eifel. The weather changed every hour, ranging from very cold to sunny. As such, it was difficult to get the tires up to temperature. We will implement a good strategy to try to be the best.

Giancarlo Fisichella – 5th and 20th:

« I think the team is on the right track with both drivers in the top six in both sessions. The first session was very promising for me with a good position, but it was quite disappointing in the afternoon. I hit a curb that was still wet and went off track. I think I could have done much better in the second session. In any case, it remains encouraging for tomorrow and the qualifiers.

Dominic Harlow – Chief Race Engineer:

A very cold day here with a constant risk of rain and both sessions declared wet, which is quite unusual in July. The car is good, but the balance on the track was quite weak overall. Adrian suffered from mechanical issues without disrupting his two sessions. He conducted thorough evaluations of the tires. Giancarlo had a good first session. He also showed that the car has good potential this weekend. Unfortunately, he was on the right track but a downpour arrived, and it was a spin around turns 10 and 11.