Adrian Sutil’s sixth place moved Force India back in front of Toro Rosso in the championship.
But team mate Paul di Resta’s race was ruined after he was hit by Nick Heidfeld on the first lap.
Adrian Sutil | Paul di Resta | |
Qualifying position | 8 | 12 |
Qualifying time comparison (Q2) | 1’31.809 (-0.751) | 1’32.560 |
Race position | 6 | 13 |
Laps | 60/60 | 59/60 |
Pit stops | 2 | 2 |
Force India drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | |
Adrian Sutil | 106.322 | 100.48 | 99.761 | 99.308 | 99.29 | 99.651 | 99.432 | 99.073 | 99.641 | 99.312 | 99.44 | 99.94 | 99.672 | 99.458 | 100.312 | 99.432 | 99.517 | 99.285 | 99.372 | 99.225 | 99.184 | 101.381 | 115.529 | 97.799 | 97.811 | 97.649 | 98.064 | 97.574 | 97.2 | 97.563 | 97.864 | 98.769 | 97.434 | 97.411 | 97.58 | 97.393 | 97.324 | 97.213 | 96.996 | 97.238 | 98.137 | 97.224 | 97.119 | 97.092 | 97.094 | 97.222 | 96.773 | 99.108 | 115.994 | 96.978 | 97.078 | 96.822 | 96.971 | 97.981 | 97.007 | 96.756 | 96.653 | 96.938 | 97.08 | 97.616 |
Paul di Resta | 116.515 | 104.234 | 102.223 | 100.922 | 100.867 | 99.906 | 100.182 | 100.701 | 99.524 | 99.969 | 100.336 | 100.468 | 100.021 | 99.604 | 99.838 | 99.932 | 99.999 | 99.969 | 99.939 | 99.812 | 99.697 | 100.183 | 102.616 | 118.714 | 98.109 | 97.747 | 97.859 | 97.844 | 97.7 | 97.863 | 97.57 | 97.716 | 97.991 | 98.143 | 97.979 | 98.977 | 98.427 | 97.944 | 98.047 | 97.643 | 98.135 | 97.711 | 98.673 | 100.216 | 97.522 | 98.382 | 98.042 | 97.163 | 97.226 | 97.065 | 99.913 | 119.106 | 97.675 | 96.715 | 97.126 | 97.581 | 97.708 | 97.849 | 97.502 |
Adrian Sutil
Sutil had his best weekend of the year so far on home ground. He started by emphatically out-qualifying his team mate – for only the third time this year – by three-quarters of a second.
He moved ahead of the slow-starting Jenson Button to claim seventh place at the start. Button eventually passed Sutil, but retired shortly after.
Using a two-stop strategy, Sutil was able to jump ahead of Nico Rosberg and finished 17 seconds up the road from the Mercedes.
“To get this result in my home race also makes it extra special and I’d like to thank the fans for their support this weekend,” he said afterwards.
Paul di Resta
Di Resta’s hopes of scoring points were dashed on the first lap: “I made a reasonable start, maintained my position and I was racing with Michael [Schumacher] into the first corner.
“Then I got hit from behind, which must have been Nick [Heidfeld], and that spun me around and compromised my race.”
He fell to the back of the field and made some progress, aided by Heidfeld’s later collision with Sebastien Buemi. But he could finish no higher than 13th.
2011 German Grand Prix
Image © Force India F1 Team
M.M.C (@mmc)
25th July 2011, 13:05
Sutil needed a result like this. Maybe a big exaggerated by the fact di Resta had a tough race, but impressive nonetheless.
Fixy (@)
25th July 2011, 17:08
It was great beating both Mercedes! I didn’t notice him during the race but he did a good job.
BasCB (@bascb)
25th July 2011, 19:03
Indeed.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th July 2011, 13:34
I think Sutil can be just as proud regardless. He out-qualified Di Resta. Though if you were cynical enough you could argue that we shouldn’t get excited about that usually!
Eggry (@eggry)
25th July 2011, 13:07
Clearly the best of the rest of the weekend. Now they should be hopeful because after Hungary, Spa and Monza is incoming!!
Marco
25th July 2011, 13:52
I am laughing a lot at the Di Resta “trashing” of Sutil… :D Adrian is now 16 points ahead and I doubt it could have been better… Well done yesterday, the 2nd best driver of the race for me! :)
AdrianMorse
25th July 2011, 13:59
Although I also feel that the “thrash-talk” was never warranted, equally Sutil’s points lead is a little flattered, as Di Resta has had rotten luck in the last two races in which the car was capable of scoring points.
infy (@infy)
25th July 2011, 14:02
You make your own luck.
Marco
25th July 2011, 14:03
Di Resta is just making too many mistakes in races… In Monaco he collided with Alguersuari, in Canada he spun off the track, in Great Britain he collided with Buemi and this time he had a contact with Heidfeld…
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
25th July 2011, 14:08
Considering Heidfeld only avoided serving a drive-through for his collision with di Resta because Buemi crashed into him just after the penalty was issued, it’s fair to say on this occasion Paul was not to blame.
Adrian was mighty yesterday and it was great to see him back to his best.
Tom L.
25th July 2011, 14:07
It’s a bit like Maldonado and Barrichello as far as I see it – the young gun is consistently getting more out of the car in qualifying, but due to rookie mistakes it’s usually the wise old head who’s ahead by the end of the race.
zecks
25th July 2011, 14:11
Glad to see adrian have a good weekend after trasjhing the Gumpert the weekend before, and gettting in a punch up in china.
Todfod (@todfod)
25th July 2011, 15:18
Sutil really needed a result like this after all the flak he was getting for being outqualified by his teammate. He was at his best this weekend, and lets hope he can find some consistency in form
Rick
25th July 2011, 16:29
Interesting thoughts on Force India here
An excellent result for Sutil: I have rarely been so pleased for a German driver!
Mike
26th July 2011, 1:51
Not only do I not understand where it refers to Force India. I also suspect that a cheap plug like that is unwelcome.
—–
This race there can be no doubt. Sutil was massively quicker than Di Resta. (As he should be.)
Mike
26th July 2011, 1:51
Now the link works. -.-
ScottishNotBritish
26th July 2011, 9:22
Clearly, Sutil was well ahead in qualifying, but it wasn’t unusual to see large gaps between teammates on Saturday: Button was over a second behind Hamilton, and Schumacher was over a second behind Rosberg.
As for Sunday, we’ll never know what Di Resta could have achieved. His race was compromised when Heidfeld went in to the back of him. The fact he made his way back up to 13th from last shows there was some pace in his car.
smokinjoe (@smokinjoe)
26th July 2011, 0:54
thx rick its a nice link ….
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
26th July 2011, 2:23
Good race from Sutil a lot criticism but finally he drove a good race with his strategy.
Marco
26th July 2011, 9:50
Finally? Three of this years best Force India results came from Sutil… He is doing a great job in races compared to his team mate…
ScottishNotBritish
26th July 2011, 13:08
Marco, you seem to take a keen interest in these two drivers, with a clear preference for Sutil. Unfortunately, though, you tend to exaggerate your points.
You’re correct in saying that Di Resta has underperformed in races. However, this has often not been of his own making: in Monaco and Canada he was the brunt of some over-zealous stewarding, in the UK his team were not ready for him in the pits, and at the weekend he was hit from behind.
While the unimaginative only look at the points leaderboard, more enlightened people can realise that for mid-field rookies, like Di Resta, there are more important indicators of performance. They recognise that over the first 10 races he has shown better pace than his teammate, and unfortunate incidents alone have denied him around 25 points in the last 5 races.
Marco
26th July 2011, 14:06
“25 points in the last 5 races”
I guess this is a joke! :)
Who collided with Alguersuari in Monaco? Who spun off the track in Canada? Who collided with Buemi in Silverstone? He is making too many mistakes and that is the main problem of his non scoring… And his race pace is nothing extraordinary compared to his pace in qualifying… But some people are always trying to make some excuses… ;)
I am pleased about Sutil s race performances and he really don t need to be ashamed of his Sunday showing… He wins not just in points, but also in race finished battle… (5:3)
ScottishNotBritish
27th July 2011, 8:01
Here we go again…
I’m not making excuses, what I’m saying is that in Monaco, Canada and Silverstone (your three examples) he was running WELL ahead of Sutil, and in more fortunate circumstances would have been able to convert serious points.
Sutil is a good driver. It would be nice if you didn’t feel like you had to denigrate his promising rookie teammate to try to make this point.
Marco
27th July 2011, 8:32
I wrote what I wanted, there is no need to write anything else about it… ;) Sutil is simply the better racer of those two as he can maximise his chances and opportunities and transform them to points… ;) Di Resta has a lot to learn… ;)
daykind
26th July 2011, 19:34
A brilliant race from Sutil, his season is beginning to get going in the last few races.
bosyber
26th July 2011, 20:15
FI has really gotten some good upgrades on their car, as Sutil’s pace and points show, and as underscored by Di Resta coming 13th after a bad race.
Over the race Sutil was in an honest competition with Rosberg in the Mercedes, albeit largely because his middle stint was a lot less slow, and more consistent and long enough to do a pitstop less, than that of the Mercedes cars.
F1 98
26th July 2011, 21:40
Sutil is a good driver but not in the same league with
Hamilton and Alonso and Kobayashi in terms of talent
Kelly (@kelly)
27th July 2011, 5:39
They are all in the same league, it’s called FORMULA 1. *rolleyes*
GameR_K (@gamer_k)
27th July 2011, 7:55
Not in the ‘Talent League’, no :)
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th July 2011, 13:36
By applying that logic you’re effectively saying that Karthikeyan is exactly the same as Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton…
Marco
27th July 2011, 8:27
Don t think it is good to put Kobayashi in the same league with Hamilton and Alonso… His qualifyings are still average…