Debutant Force India Formula One Indian Team got off to a disappointing start in the accident-filled 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship season opener Australia Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday. The Aussie Grand Prix too had a big disappointment after a surprising race that produced only seven finishers.
Former Australian Grand Prix winner, Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, started from 16th on the grid following Timo Glock’s 10-place penalty, was a victim of a first-corner crash involving Glock and Piquet, with the resulting damage ending his Force India debut on the spot.
“I am very disappointed as I lost the race at the first corner because another driver came in like a kamikaze into my car and it was very frustrating, especially considering a race like this where there was a possibility to score lots of points,” quoted frustrated Fisichella in the Force India website after his race.
“It was a really a good opportunity and I am really disappointed. Let’s hope for more in Malaysia,” added Fisichella.
Despite encouraging performances throughout the weekend, with the two VJM01 cars featuring regularly in the top 15, the Australian Grand Prix ultimately brought a double retirement for the team.
Adrian Sutil started from the pit lane after his qualifying incident cracked his chassis. The German however avoided Giancarlo’s accident and had graduated to 13th position by lap eight, however a hydraulic pressure problem on the following lap also brought his day to a premature end.
The team will now move from Australia to Malaysia for the second race of the year, with high hopes of improvements on this race result.
‘It was really a big disappointment, especially when I watched the race afterwards, but it was good while it lasted, “ said Sutil.
“I could stay with the guys in front of me in the opening laps and could overtake to get up to 13th position, but then I had a hydraulic pressure problem. I had to go back to the pits, so at that point my race was over,” reasoned Sutil.
“We have to hope for more in Malaysia, but I think we showed an improvement over last year, particularly over the longer runs in practice, so I am confident we can really do better there,” added Sutil.
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer said, “A very disappointing first race for Force India and obviously a great opportunity to score points missed.”
“With Adrian we had a hydraulic failure, a result of having to rebuild his car from yesterday and not being able to do any installation checks, which was a shame as he was running very competitively and would for sure have had a good result. But overall a positive weekend in terms of car pace and we have to look to get a better result in Malaysia,” added Mike.
Force India owned by Indian UB Group Managing Director Vijay Mallya said, “I have been very pleased with this weekend, despite the frustration of going out early in this astonishing race.”
“It was a shame we missed a point-scoring opportunity here. Overall it was an encouraging weekend and the positive is that we have another event in just one week’s time where we can try again, Mallya quoted in Force India website.
FORCE INDIA PERFORMANCE IN AUSSIE GRAND PRIX
Adrian Sutil (car 20, VJM01/02)
DNF: Hydraulic Lap 9
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21, VJM01/05)
DNF: Accident Lap1
|
|
Comments:
