Valencia: After struggling to be competitive in the first few races, Force India managed to get a decent result in Monaco when Adrian Sutil finished 7th. In Valencia this Sunday, Sutil again brought some cheer in the team by finishing 9th. In an exclusive interview with ibnlive.com, Force India deputy team principal Robert Fernley talks about the team's progress from the first race in Australia till now.
Did you expect such a tough start to the season?
We always knew that our start to the season wouldn't be easy and that we would have our hands full to be at the front of the midfield fight. But we also knew we needed to take a step backwards in order to take two steps forward. That's the process we're going through at the moment as we explore a different aerodynamic concept that we believe will give us better long-term development prospects.
How do you view Adrian Sutil's performance in Valencia?
A very good weekend overall. Adrian once again demonstrated the speed we have in the car and confirmed that we continue to improve our competitiveness. He reached Q3 for the first time this year and then drove a very strong race. It was just a shame that we were unable to counter the threat from Alguersuari who was running a two-stop strategy and jumped ahead of Adrian after his final stop.
Adrian's 7th place in Monaco must have been encouraging too…
That's true. It was a great result for the team and the perfect way to respond after a difficult few races. I think we pretty much got the strategic calls spot on and seeing him bring the car home in seventh place was a great reward. There’s no denying we were fortunate with the safety cars, but we reacted well and the whole team did a tremendous job.
Both drivers have often talked about the lack of speed. When do you think the cars will reach the pace for producing consistently good results?
To be honest, I think the last three races have reassured us that we do have the speed to be competitive. In Monaco, we made the most of the strategy to get Adrian into seventh, while in Montrealwe had both cars running in the points until the drivers picked up damage to their front wings. Although it was frustrating to miss out on scoring big points, we took a lot of positives from the performance of the car. We've also shown the speed to reach Q3 and finish 9th in Valencia.
Are any significant aero upgrades planned for the upcoming races?
Recently we have undertaken a total reassessment of our aero programme largely because of the rule changes that have been introduced relating to the use of engine maps and blown floors. The implementation of this will continue at Silverstone where we should get a better indication of our relative competitiveness.
Is the team's qualifying form a concern?
I don't think we're overly concerned. In Montreal, Paul qualified in P11 as the best of the rest behind the top five manufacturer teams, which was a good effort. Had Adrian not made a small error on his final qualifying lap, I'm pretty sure he could have been alongside Paul on the grid. So we're knocking on the door of the top ten and sometimes making Q3, which is where we expect to be.
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