Canadian GP: Force India qualifying report

Adrian Sutil (car 20, VJM01/02):
FP3: 20th 1:18.424 (21 laps)
Q1: 17th 1:19.108 (12 laps)

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21, VJM01/04):
FP1: 16th 1:17.608 (24 laps)
Q1: 18th 1:19.165 (12 laps)

Force India's Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella will start tomorrow's Canadian Grand Prix in 17th and 18th position respectively following a close qualifying session at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in the heart of Montreal.

Hot, sultry weather conditions were a welcome change from yesterday's rain and wind, however the change of temperature also led to a change of track conditions, with both drivers reporting significantly reduced grip levels from even the morning's final practice session. The duo, who both completed three runs each in the 20 minute Q1, could not match the pace of the earlier practice, which saw positions eight to 18 separated by just seven tenths of a second.

The team now hopes for an improvement in tomorrow's 70-lap race, with the changeable weather conditions, notorious safety cars and stoppages likely to mix the field.

Adrian Sutil (car 20)

'We were almost there, but just not enough today and we will start in 17th. I actually had a worse feeling with the car and the tyres here than in the morning. The grip level was very, very low compared to that session and I think everyone struggled to find something. I think the lap time was alright compared to the others, just sadly not enough to get us into Q2 this time.'

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)

'The grip this afternoon was definitely worse than the morning. It wasn't too bad in practice and we found a good set up and compromise with the aero and we were quite competitive. This afternoon I just lost a lot of grip and didn't have confidence in the circuit. It was practically undriveable and really disappointing that we could not have finished higher up. We will see what happens tomorrow, particularly if it rains.'

Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer

'Ultimately a very disappointing and confusing qualifying session. This morning the car was well balanced although the grip level was still low, but this afternoon both cars had practically no grip. Given these sort of track conditions and the changeable weather it will be a very difficult race for anyone to finish tomorrow however I'm sure with our better race pace we can look to have a strong performance. Anything can happen here too, with safety cars and so on, so we now have to put today behind us and hope for a better result tomorrow.'

-credit: force india