Formula 1

Bahrain GP: Force India Friday practice report

Just five days after the Chinese Grand Prix, the Force India Formula One Team took to the track at the Sakhir International Circuit for the first of the practice sessions ahead of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix. Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo ...

Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:51 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Just five days after the Chinese Grand Prix, the Force India Formula One Team took to the track at the Sakhir International Circuit for the first of the practice sessions ahead of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella used the two 90 minute sessions to evaluate the new aero package introduced for this race, which includes a new floor and modified front wing. The drivers completed a combined total of 87 laps despite the scorchingly hot conditions, with ambient temperatures peaking at 39 C and track at 51 C. The pair steadily improved their relative performance over the day and, in one of the closest-ever Fridays where all cars were covered by 1.4secs, finished the second practice with Adrian sitting comfortably inside the top 10 with the seventh best time, only four tenths from the fastest lap, and Giancarlo classified 12th.

Following a final hour practice session tomorrow morning qualifying will begin at 14:00hrs local time.

Adrian Sutil (car 20):

The second session was quite a bit better as the track was very dirty and sandy in the morning. We also tried the softer tyre that seemed to help a lot with the stability. It's quite good balance-wise for a Friday, we can still tweak the general set-up and we still have to look at the brakes as I'm not 100% comfortable right now. I think the update package has helped us if I look at my position in the afternoon, I think it is the best position I have been in ever on a Friday. Although it's difficult to draw conclusions from this, the car feels good so let's see how we go tomorrow.'

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21):

Today I am happier and more comfortable with the car: it feels like we have made a step forward with the new updates. The car is more consistent and I think we have reduced the gap to the others but let's see tomorrow. The team did a fantastic job to have this package here and I look forward to tomorrow to seeing where we are on the grid.'

Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer :

Today's practice sessions were two of the hottest we've run for quite some time. As expected the circuit grip was initially low but the drivers coped quite well and got to grips with their programmes. Giancarlo looked at some set-up options and Adrian concentrated on the tyres in what was all together a productive day. The updates to the car appear to be working as expected and we are hopeful for a stronger qualifying tomorrow.'

-credit: force india

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Rosberg tops Friday practice in Bahrain

Next article Bahrain GP: Ferrari Friday practice report

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

What's behind "absolute nonsense" Oliver Bearman contract rumours

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

43 min

What's behind "absolute nonsense" Oliver Bearman contract rumours

F1 Mexico GP: Follow FP2 with live timing

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

1 h

F1 Mexico GP: Follow FP2 with live timing

F1 Mexico GP: Charles Leclerc beats Kimi Antonelli to top FP1

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

3 h

F1 Mexico GP: Charles Leclerc beats Kimi Antonelli to top FP1

What Fernando Alonso is getting wrong about F1 driving standards

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

4 h

What Fernando Alonso is getting wrong about F1 driving standards

Feature

Discover prime content

What’s the state of play at F1’s smallest team?

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

What’s the state of play at F1’s smallest team?

Is history really repeating itself? What Christian Horner’s Adrian Newey claim says about Aston Martin and Red Bull

Formula 1

By Ronald Vording

Is history really repeating itself? What Christian Horner’s Adrian Newey claim says about Aston Martin and Red Bull

The one aspect of the 2026 US GP that should be a blueprint for F1 2027

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

The one aspect of the 2026 US GP that should be a blueprint for F1 2027

A strategic masterclass: How Kimi Antonelli put himself on the cusp of F1 title at the US GP

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

A strategic masterclass: How Kimi Antonelli put himself on the cusp of F1 title at the US GP

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts