Force India Targets 5th in 2013

Yeah, I wasn't aware that Sutil set off at such pace for the rest of the race!

5th in the championship doesn't seem so impossible right now, although I do expect Mclaren to overtake them in the second half of the season. However, I don't think they have to worry about any of the other teams behind them, really.

5th in the championship doesn't seem so impossible right now, although I do expect Mclaren to overtake them in the second half of the season. However, I don't think they have to worry about any of the other teams behind them, really.

That's very reasonable. Williams and Sauber are really nowhere at present, and there is a large gap to Force India to bridge. McLaren will pass them though, especially with Sutil going out twice now from potential high points finishes.

A strange week-end for sure,but DON'T GIVE UP.
Paul & Adrian CAN outscore Button & Perez, P5 IS AVAILABLE

Great job by Adrian once again! And the only one, who improved his lap time at the end...

The Force Indias will be interesting to watch today if it's a dry race.

Paul di Resta: "we got it spot on on the pit wall."

They did. Great job by Di Resta. Too bad they split the strategy but who would've thought they could run the primes for that long. Guess that could've been a podium if he had qualified higher.

Also too bad Sutil spun it and then made that stupid blue-flag mistake. Guess the car didn't handle too well after getting pastored, the rear wing certainly looked a bit dodgy.

Not happy today, the spinning and holding off was unnecessary...

And today Paul can smile again and now his team is great and all. Annoying driver. It's time Sutil whipes the floor with him, because he isn't that good. I never see Paul overtake anybody, he only seems to profit from stopping one time less than the rest of them and getting into the points that way.

He made a good couple of moves around the outside at St. Devote, you know, the race two weeks ago. If you take issue with his personality, try not to get confused with his driving.

Edited by Disgrace, 09 June 2013 - 20:37.

And today Paul can smile again and now his team is great and all. Annoying driver. It's time Sutil whipes the floor with him, because he isn't that good. I never see Paul overtake anybody, he only seems to profit from stopping one time less than the rest of them and getting into the points that way.

Di Resta 34, Sutil 17.

Suck it up.

Di Resta 34, Sutil 17.

Suck it up.

Sutil's bad luck: 5 times
Di Resta's bad luck: 1 time

Suck it up.

Sutil's bad luck: 5 times
Di Resta's bad luck: 1 time

Suck it up.

Perhaps you make your own luck.

And today Paul can smile again and now his team is great and all. Annoying driver. It's time Sutil whipes the floor with him, because he isn't that good. I never see Paul overtake anybody, he only seems to profit from stopping one time less than the rest of them and getting into the points that way.

He overtook the Mclarens early in the race today.

As usual the TV director would rather show people in the pitlane than action on track.

Why don't you rate di Resta? He more often than not brings the car home and usually in the points.

Sutil's bad luck: 5 times
Di Resta's bad luck: 1 time

Suck it up.

You know it's quite funny, because in the past when I've pointed out di Resta has had woeful luck compared to his teammate, suddenly the points were the only thing that mattered.

Sutil has had some poor luck this year, but what would you count as the five times?

Edited by Fastcake, 09 June 2013 - 20:57.

The chances of Force India finishing ahead of Mclaren are good but only if Mclaren fail to score podium or a win. If I was the team principal of FI, I'd play it safe like Lotus and beat Mclaren by being more consistent even if it means being invisible to the viewers.

They did. Great job by Di Resta. Too bad they split the strategy but who would've thought they could run the primes for that long. Guess that could've been a podium if he had qualified higher.

Also too bad Sutil spun it and then made that stupid blue-flag mistake. Guess the car didn't handle too well after getting pastored, the rear wing certainly looked a bit dodgy.

Yes, after a good race one can easily imagine what would have happened, if ... In my opinion, the pure pace wasn't good enough to race for the podium. P7 is still a good result, Paul did a fantastic job. Consistent lap times, which were strong enough compared to the rivals. Keep this up.

And today Paul can smile again and now his team is great and all. Annoying driver. It's time Sutil whipes the floor with him, because he isn't that good. I never see Paul overtake anybody, he only seems to profit from stopping one time less than the rest of them and getting into the points that way.

Sneer away. I guess we can dismiss Kimi's victory in Melbourne, stopping one time less and all that, or maybe that was masterful tyre preservation.

Perhaps you missed di Resta's two moves around the outside into Ste Devote not so many weeks ago? Based on the rhetoric of the di Resta bashers I guess we can say he is destroying Sutil.

Sneer away. I guess we can dismiss Kimi's victory in Melbourne, stopping one time less and all that, or maybe that was masterful tyre preservation.

Perhaps you missed di Resta's two moves around the outside into Ste Devote not so many weeks ago? Based on the rhetoric of the di Resta bashers I guess we can say he is destroying Sutil.

That was a bad joke...

That was a bad joke...

Agreed, but it was the sort of drivel we heard the last time thee two were teammates.

Another quality drive from Di Resta, it really looks like 2013 could be his breakout year if he continues like this. He may not be the fastest driver but, like others have said, he certainly is consistent and I wonder if he'll earn a drive with a top team he craves next year. Would love to see Force India finish fifth in the standings, but I can see McLaren steal a few podiums as the season continues.

I can't see Sutil joining a top team at this point, though he is a solid driver, I imagine Vijay will keep him around no matter how many points he finishes on.

That was a bad joke...

Too right, Sutil is destroying himself.

Edited by TheUltimateWorrier, 09 June 2013 - 23:37.

Another quality drive from Di Resta, it really looks like 2013 could be his breakout year if he continues like this. He may not be the fastest driver but, like others have said, he certainly is consistent and I wonder if he'll earn a drive with a top team he craves next year. Would love to see Force India finish fifth in the standings, but I can see McLaren steal a few podiums as the season continues.

I can't see Sutil joining a top team at this point, though he is a solid driver, I imagine Vijay will keep him around no matter how many points he finishes on.


Too right, Sutil is destroying himself.

Let s wait for the second part of the season, if Di Resta can keep his consistency... Last two years he was fading as the season progressed and finished overall many positions behind Sutil and Hulkenberg in the standings...

Edited by marcoferrari, 10 June 2013 - 07:49.

Sutil has had some poor luck this year, but what would you count as the five times?

Wheelnut in Malaysia, DNF
Hit by Gutierrez in China, DNF
Hit by Massa in Bahrain, puncture cost him massive time
Failed pitstop in Spain cost him massive time
Hit by Maldonado and unnecessary drive through in Canada

Wheelnut in Malaysia, DNF
Hit by Gutierrez in China, DNF
Hit by Massa in Bahrain, puncture cost him massive time
Failed pitstop in Spain cost him massive time
Hit by Maldonado and unnecessary drive through in Canada

Ah okay, I only counted the first four. But in Canada, while being hit by Maldonado would hardly of helped, the damaged rear wing did not seem to cost him, and his drive-through punishment was his own doing.

He was lucky he survived that spin and unlucky it put him right in front of Maldonado. He was lucky again that he could continue with that broken rear wing - and i'm pretty sure it did cost performance - and then he made that mistake with the blue flags. All in all, i wouldn't say that was an unlucky race for him.

Now that's what i call 'movable aero device'.

Flexi rear wing

It looked so good for Sutil until the first SC deployment... Fifth position was possible today...

Lucky to not cop a penalty for that crap Sutil pulled on Ricciardo...

Lucky to not cop a penalty for that crap Sutil pulled on Ricciardo...

???

???

Sutil squeezed him when he knew he was there.

Tbh I didn't think it was too bad. If he done it again then he'd have been in bother.

Championship looks good for Force India now, 5th is a real posibility. They keep achieving points with both cars and outscoring McLaren, who will soon abandon the MP4 28 (i believe...).

They need to improve qualy operations thoght.

Edited by DESCHAIN, 30 June 2013 - 14:49.

they will get the 5th position....

Yeah, Sutil was dirty there, darting back infront like that, and living dangerously with such racing ethics isn't what the team needs, when they start on the backfoot like today, with DiResta last, instead of fifth.

Anyway, I'm so impressed by what this team have managed, and if anything, they've made gains on the front in this three-week break, not just matched their developments it seems.
(....puts all the specualtions about the team being in serious financial difficulties into perspective too.)

Edited by race addicted, 30 June 2013 - 14:50.

Sutil squeezed him when he knew he was there.

Tbh I didn't think it was too bad. If he done it again then he'd have been in bother.

It was pretty poor - the entry to Copse isn't the kind of place you want to be pulling that kind of sh!t.

Otherwise an excellent race from Sutil - if he (and Ricciardo for that matter) had've pitted for tyres at the last SC then they would've been looking at possibly 4th/5th...

It was pretty poor - the entry to Copse isn't the kind of place you want to be pulling that kind of sh!t.

Otherwise an excellent race from Sutil - if he (and Ricciardo for that matter) had've pitted for tyres at the last SC then they would've been looking at possibly 4th/5th...

He got lucky. I think he was trying to intimidate him.

As you say it's not where you want that to be happening.

Not a fan of Sutil, but he had a terrific race today. Maybe I'm wrong but the team seem to let him down a little bit, like Lotus with Kimi, getting a bit greedy with the two-stop strategy. Force India really did choose their driver line-up well. I wanted Kobayashi, but I doubt he would've had the consistency of these two.

Another great comeback from Di Resta, with some excellent dicing with Hamilton. A move to a big team next year seems like a real possibility now.

Vijay Mallya: “If we keep scoring points and they don’t come up with something dramatic like a race win, we should be able to keep our nose ahead of them.” Source

When a race victory is spoken of as something "dramatic" then you know people have lost respect for you as a top team. Mclaren need to respond because Vijay Mallya is currently pulling pants down and dumping it on Ron Dennis' belly.

When a race victory is spoken of as something "dramatic" then you know people have lost respect for you as a top team. Mclaren need to respond because Vijay Mallya is currently pulling pants down and dumping it on Ron Dennis' belly.

what an image...

FI are doing well

Just those few thousands... But Sutil owns DiResta here, faster in every season, sometimes significantly! Hoping for a good start and a clean race without any issues... Points are not impossible as at least Ricciardo is a hot candidate for falling out of top 10...

Edited by marcoferrari, 27 July 2013 - 13:20.

Di Resta has been very slow, and he always has a reason for it. Not expecting much from him this weekend, would be difficult Sutil also as he was way off pace on Med's in long run yest.

Di Resta has been very slow, and he always has a reason for it.

And yet he is STILL 13 points ahead of his inexplicably hyped team-mate....

Di Resta has been very slow, and he always has a reason for it. Not expecting much from him this weekend, would be difficult Sutil also as he was way off pace on Med's in long run yest.

Yes, I know the Friday long runs weren t that good... Sutil was speaking to his engineer something about tyres getting colder and that s really strange... We ll see, the temperatures will be a bit different... It will be his grand prix no. 100, so it should be celebrated in a style...

Edited by marcoferrari, 27 July 2013 - 18:23.

I wonder how long will they try to brake Sutil for challenging their wonderboy Di Resta... Zero points again and a 8th or 9th place was possible!!! McLaren now 2 points behind... What will be next at Spa on DiRestas worst circuit???

Edited by marcoferrari, 28 July 2013 - 15:05.

I wonder how long will they try to brake Sutil for challenging their wonderboy Di Resta... Zero points again and a 8th or 9th place was possible!!! McLaren now 2 points behind... What will be next at Spa on DiRestas worst circuit???

Umm, what is the purpose of sabotaging Sutil? I don't get it. And it has been di Resta with several qualifying problems this year already.

Too bad Sutil had to cope with the bad luck yet again. With his strategy he probably would have finished 9th or 10th. He was quicker than Di Resta all weekend. Looks like 2011 and 2012 all over again, with Di Resta falling back in the second half of the season.

I think this summons up FI at the moment :
"When told to retire the car, PdiR: "That is absolutely appalling. **** it""

Edited by Diablobb81, 28 July 2013 - 15:41.

Umm, what is the purpose of sabotaging Sutil? I don't get it. And it has been di Resta with several qualifying problems this year already.

You don t get it? What about Di Restas constant talking about a seat in a top team? Will it realize, if he finishes again behind Sutil in standings? He already lost to him in 2011 and he lost the battle again to Hulkenberg in 2012... One of his wish teams McLaren chose Perez instead... Now DiResta seems to be desparately looking for a place in Ferrari, making compliments about them lately... Will they hire him after performances like in Nurburgring or Hungaroring? After the introduction of modified/new Pirelli tyres, Sutil s performance drop was only minimal, but DiResta s dropped significantly... He just CAN T AFFORD another loosing to his teammate! And the team, who consists primarely of English staff (Stevenson, Fernley, etc) knows that too... What they said recently? "We will try not to block Paul negotiations with other, possible top teams... You don t need to agree with me, if you won t, but that is my opinion about this. The strange things are happening exactly when Sutil looks much faster then DiResta or is running ahead of him in race (Nurburgring - DRS in qualifying after being faster in all sessions, Hungaroring - hydraulic issue in race, faster all the weekend, China - strange problem in qualifying after being 9 tenths faster in FP3, one minute pitstop in Spain, which threw him out of the top 10)... In Bahrain he lost also one minute in pits... All just random accidents?

I agree that Sutil has had much more bad luck than Di Resta, but his team wouldn't deliberately sabotage his car. He's been with the team since 2006, so. Some are just more prone to bad luck I guess. Just like Webber at Red Bull, and Raikkonen at McLaren all those years.

Though, there's plenty of races left for Sutil to pass Di Resta in the championship. He's only 13 points behind and Spa + Monza are tracks where Sutil performs well.