Sutil: Force India can score from the off
Date published : 08 Mar 2010 - 11:43:23
Adrian Sutil believes Force India can realistically target a points finish first time out in Bahrain this weekend after a promising pre-season testing programme with its VJM03.
The Silverstone-based starts his third year under Vijay Mallya's ownership aiming to build on the huge progress it made last season, when the team finally got away from the back of the grid and into more regular top-10 contention.
With its latest Mercedes-powered challenger having looked consistently among the midfield runners behind the recognised big four' in testing, Sutil is confident the team is in very good shape for the season-opener.
The baseline car we have now after 12 days of testing looks very good and promising, he said.
The changes we have made during the winter have all had a positive effect.
Testing went well and although there was a lot of rain over the period, the last two days in Barcelona were OK.
We did our long runs and a lot of work with the tyres so we are fully prepared. We are pretty confident that our car is good enough to be in the top ten in Bahrain.
Indeed, while Sutil thinks established big guns Ferrari and McLaren are back on form following disappointing seasons, he also reckons the VJM03 is performing at not too dissimilar levels.
You can see a little bit, but you can't be 100% sure as you never know what the other teams are doing with their programme, he said.
That said, you can tell that some of the big teams like McLaren and Ferrari look very strong on both the long runs and qualifying runs and are always on the top of the timesheets.
I am expecting them to be on the top again in the race weekend but we are not far away and that's a really good sign.
Team-mate Tonio Liuzzi is equally enthusiastic about Force India's chances and, ahead of his first full F1 season for three years, has described the VJM03 as the best car he has ever driven.
In my five years of F1 this is definitely the best car I've driven, said the former Toro Rosso and Red Bull driver.
It's the most balanced, and knowing that has made me feel so much stronger and confident.
Of course you can never know exactly where you are compared to the others but we can go to Bahrain feeling optimistic and positive.
And having missed out on a points finish in his first five appearances for the team after being promoted from the test driver role, he is targeting at least a handful of them at Sakhir.
For the first race we want to show that our winter work has paid off, Liuzzi added.
Points are our target for the time being and getting into the top ten, as high as possible. Being realistic, a few points should be feasible and hopefully everything goes as well as in testing with good reliability for the first race.
Team boss Mallya, meanwhile, reiterated his main goals for his squad this year namely regular points finishes and further podium appearances.
We finished 2009 on a real high note our first-ever points, a podium and one place up in the constructors' championship, the Indian said.
That is enough in itself to set the bar much higher this season, but we're really determined to take it to the next level.
Regular points and the odd podium have got to be the aim and we know it is possible.
I have a lot of faith in the drivers and the technical staff, I think we've got into a very good rhythm together now.
