Exclusive Sutil Q&A: I can’t wait for the race 11 Jul 2009
Very recently Force India team principal Dr Vijay Mallya said that a podium for his team is not a pipe dream. Many thought it was too bold a notion for the perennial backmarkers. But just days later, driver Adrian Sutil has demonstrated that Mallya’s hopes are perhaps not too fanciful after all with his fantastic qualifying performance that took him into Q3 and then to P7 on the Nurburgring grid…
Q: At the start of the season team owner Vijay Mallya hoped he wouldn’t have to walk too far down the grid to reach his cars. You made that wish come true today!
Adrian Sutil: Yes, wow! Everybody is happy in the team, including me as you can easily guess. It was a really great afternoon - making it to Q3 and then even better…clinching P7. Today everything went well. We made the right decisions in Q2. Now the aim must be to bring that home tomorrow. It’s a long race! But we have the pace, as we have proved, and hopefully that will lead us straight into the points!
Q: Where is this explosion in performance coming from?
AS: Well, we have been a little bit lucky in Q2 because the session was really tricky with the temporary rainy conditions. But we made a smart move to put the slick tyres on very early and I was able to do a fantastic lap, which took me temporarily to P3 before it started to rain even more. But overall I must say we have made a very good step forward from Silverstone, where we unfortunately could not show our improvements due to my accident. But here we’ve been competitive all weekend long.
Q: Yesterday you mentioned that it would be great to make it into Q2, and didn’t even mention Q3. Was it that far beyond your imagination?
AS: It was. You never can be really sure, but I expected to end up in Q2. Q3 seemed to be out of reach. Naturally you always dream about being among the top ten but I never would have guessed that it would come true this weekend. I am just so happy and overwhelmed. Really excited! Never forget - I’m a first timer in Q3. I would love if it could become a habit!
Q: What does it mean for the team? It’s obvious that the car has improved a lot, but you never had the chance to show it…
AS: That is true. Now finally everything went our way. We’ve been a bit of an unlucky team. We’ve been many times in a position that would have enabled us to score points, or to just show that we are able to race at the front, but it took until today to be able to prove it. Today everything went right! It is a great feeling for everybody.
Q: And showing that performance at your home Grand Prix must add to that warm feeling of success…
AS: For sure. At the home Grand Prix it’s even better. Maybe it was a little extra concentration from me at my home Grand Prix, or knowing that many of my fans are here that gave me that extra boost.
Q: In terms of the race what does P7 mean?
AS: It means a lot. Seven is my lucky number so it should work out. But being serious, starting from P7 means that you haven’t got so many cars in front and that you don’t run into such a mess at the first corner. You can try to push right away from Lap One. That is a new experience for me. I just can’t wait for that.
Q: What would be your dream result on Sunday?
AS: To stay in the points.
