Force India not taking things easy for Abu Dhabi race

PTI

Abu Dhabi, 08 November 2011: With just two races to go in the season, Sahara Force India has a 10-point cushion against close rivals Sauber and Toro Rosso but the team is not taking the sixth-place finish for granted. Force India have 51 points while Sauber and Toro Rosso are on 41 each.

 

The Indian team had finished in seventh position last season after being pipped by Williams by just one point and the result still haunts Force India. With penultimate race of the calendar lined up for Sunday, Team Principal Vijay Mallya promised to be as competitive as they have been in the season.

 

 

“Formula One becomes more and more competitive with each passing day. Toro Rosso has clearly made a huge step since Japan. We’ve also made a bit of a step with the upgrades we brought to India. But at the end of the day you never know until the last race is over.

 

“We found that out painfully last year when Williams pipped us by one point, but now I think we’re comfortably in sixth position, ahead of Toro Rosso as well as Sauber. But it’s never done until it’s done,” Mallya said. Adrian Sutil is confident of a good show this weekend saying the Yas Marina track suits their car.

 

“It was a difficult race for us last year, but I think this year it should be much better. There are long straights and hairpins, and it’s a track where low-speed corner performance counts. That should suit our car so I think we’ll be okay,” the German observed. Paul Di Resta also felt that the team can look forward to a good result.

 

“It’s a very technical circuit with a lot of tight, low-speed corners and you need to be very precise with the car. There are definitely some similarities with Singapore so that’s a reason to be optimistic because the lack of high-speed corners seems to suit our package,” the Scot said.