Abu Dhabi: Sahara Force India endured a very competitive qualifying session for Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as Paul di Resta will start the race from 12th place while Adrian Sutil was way back in 18th position on the grid.
Sutil's fastest lap of 1:42.051 could not took him beyond Q1 as he was among the first six who were eliminated.
Di Resta clocked his best lap in 1:41.133, which was a slight improvement from his best Q1 timing (1:41.676) but that could not take him into Q3.
Force India, which took six points from the Indian Grand Prix to extend their lead to 23 over Sauber have reasons to worry as Nico Hukenberg has qualified sixth, his second-best of the season.
Paul said his car has responding well and more suited to the race than qualifying.
"I am pretty satisfied with P12, which puts us in a reasonable position for tomorrow. I'm feeling good in the car, which has worked well all weekend. For tomorrow I'm optimistic that we can be up there with a good chance of picking up some points," he said.
Adrian said he struggled to find balance in his car.
"I have not been feeling comfortable with the car this weekend. The practice sessions have not been easy and I just can't find a balance that is working for me. It started in second practice yesterday when we had the issue with the brakes and since then I've been struggling.
"We made some changes before qualifying, which were an improvement, but it was not enough to progress to Q2. So we are disappointed with P18, but it's the result of things not coming together for us," he said.
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