Adrian Sutil post Belgian GP Q&A

Force India

The result wasn’t quite as spectacular as last year’s, but Adrian Sutil did a great job to claim fifth place for Force India at Spa after a tricky race which saw both Adrian and the team make all the right calls. From eighth at the start he moved up to fifth, and when rain came near the end the switch to intermediate tyres was timed perfectly – and might have gained him some positions had the leading four drivers struggled on that lap. We spoke to Adrian about his day.

Q: How satisfying is to get a good result after a race like Spa?

It was a very good race. Starting in P8 you want to finish a little bit ahead, and that’s what happened. Fifth position was because of very good strategy and very good team work, so I’m happy.

Q: The first lap was a bit chaotic. How did it go for you?

The start was quite OK, actually. It was drizzling down a little bit, but I thought it was dry enough to continue. I was the only one who took the chicane in the normal way, and I got passed by one or two cars! Hulkenberg definitely passed me. He cut it and gained one position, and he didn’t get any penalty for it. I was lucky to be able to pass him after the restart.

Q: And everything went to plan after that?

It was a normal dry race, it was all good. It was quite easy to handle. In the end I was fifth, and then it started to rain.

Q: The top four went past the pits and you were the first one to stop for intermediates.

It was a really good call. It looked like more and more rain was coming, so it looked like it was the safest thing to do, and also the best thing. The first four cars in front of me did another lap on slick tyres, which was much more risky. But still they were quite good. So on that lap there wasn’t much difference between intermediates and slick tyres, but on intermediates it’s just much safer to drive around.

Q: You stayed in fifth place – were you hoping to gain by pitting first?

I think there was a chance to gain all the positions in front of me if there was a lot of rain! Suddenly the slick runners would have been involved in big chaos. Just a little bit more rain and I probably could have led the race after that. That was our thinking, and it was definitely the right decision.

Q: How were the last few laps after the last safety car?

It was pretty easy. Of course, you have to push in rain conditions, but we were very good in rain conditions anyway, and I did some good lap times. I was actually very close to Massa, and I thought I could probably catch him on the last straight, but he was still able to hold his position. I think he got some graining in the front tyres, so he slowed down a little bit.

Q: Nevertheless, you were satisfied with fifth?

Yes, it was a very good position. I’m hoping to keep it in the next race as well, because Monza could be quite good for us. I’m concentrating on scoring some points.

Q: In 2009 the team was very strong at both Spa and Monza. After Belgium can you make any kind of comparison of the car’s form between this year and last?
At Spa it was a little bit different, as the others have picked up the pace, and they were much stronger than us. I think we’ll have a good car in Monza, because the straight line speed is still very good.