Sutil welcomes early driver decision

Adrian Sutil has welcomed team boss Vijay Mallya's decision to bring forward Force India's 2012 driver decision to the next few weeks.

Mallya had originally intended to wait until December to decide which of his team's three drivers - Sutil, Paul di Resta or Nico Hulkenberg – will be given race contracts for next year.

Amid mounting speculation that a decision has been taken and that it will be Hulkenberg and di Resta signed up by the team, Mallya moved to end the rumours by stating in India that he will make his decision imminently.

With an announcement expected before the next race in Abu Dhabi, Sutil has supported the fact that he will find out his future soon – which does at least give him time to find an alternative drive if he is not retained.

"I was hoping to hear this from Vijay because December is just too late, and I think it is not fair to the drivers," said Sutil, when asked by AUTOSPORT about Mallya's change of plans. "I am happy that he understood that and let's see what comes out."

Sutil refused to predict which way Mallya's decision would go, but reckoned that his strong performances for the team this year showed that he was worthy of being handed another contract by the team.

"I do the best job I can," he said. "I think it should be obvious for the people here and they have to decide."

Should Sutil not stay with Force India, then his best option for 2012 appears to be with Williams – but that situation depends on the outcome of the Grove-based team's talks with Kimi Raikkonen.

"I am looking around of course, but the priority is always to Force India," Sutil said. "I am loyal to this team. I am with this team for very long and I have a close relationship to Vijay.

"So let's see what he says in the next weeks, and then I will have plenty of time to decide what to do."

Source: autosport.com

Race - Force india driver quotes

Adrian Sutil (9th)
“It was quite a good race and I think we can be happy with the two points today. In the early laps I struggled with the rear of the car, with a bit of oversteer, and could not hold off the Toro Rossos who were a bit quicker today. But in the second and third stint the car balance improved and I was able to keep the Sauber behind me in the closing laps. We were also fortunate that Buemi retired, which gave me another position. I think ninth was probably the maximum today and I hope Vijay will have a smile on his face tonight.”

Paul di Resta (13th)
“We went for a fairly aggressive strategy today - starting on the hard tyre - and it was always the plan to come in early with the hope of a safety car. It was a gamble to get rid of the hard tyre early on, and if it had worked we would have gained a pit stop and done the race on three sets of softs, which was the quickest way. We had to do three stops because of the tyre wear, which was quite high to begin with, but got better later in the race. It’s good that Adrian has picked up a couple of points, which are valuable for the championship, and that was the reason why we split the strategies.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal and managing director
“Today’s Indian Grand Prix was a great event and I hope that all the fans enjoyed the day as much as I did. We targeted points and that’s exactly what we delivered with Adrian’s excellent drive to ninth. As for Paul, he performed well, but we went very aggressive with the strategy to cover the chance of a safety car. In the end it didn’t work out, but we needed to cover our bases. These two points are important for our championship battle and I’m delighted that Sahara Force India will go down in the record books for scoring points in the inaugural Indian Grand Prix.”

Source:f1.com

Paul di Resta to keep Force India seat in 2012

Paul di Resta is poised to be named as a Force India driver 

for the second year in succession after an impressive debut season in 2011.

The 26-year-old Scot is expected to be confirmed by the team in the coming week, with either Adrian Sutil or Nico Hulkenberg as his team-mate.

Hulkenberg, the team's reserve driver this year, is favourite for the seat.

But fellow German Sutil, who has driven for the team since it was Midland in 2006, is still a possibility.

Sutil, 28, brings with him sponsorship funding, which is at a premium for many Formula 1 teams in the difficult economic climate.

He has also been linked with a seat at struggling Williams, although there are intensifying rumours that former McLaren and Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen will return to F1 with them next season after a two-year absence.

Continue reading the main story

 

Di Resta has been widely hailed as this year's most impressive rookie.

He is 14th in the drivers' championship, three places and seven points behind Sutil, but had out-qualified him nine times in 17 races after this weekend's Indian Grand Prix.

Team boss Vijay Mallya was planning to announce the 2012 driver line-up at the end of the season but, speaking in India, he told BBC Sport that he would make the decision next week.

Mallya said: "I had said December as a timeline, but Adrian has requested to find out earlier and I respect that. We'll think about it after this race and then make a decision."

Sutil said he was confident of being in F1 next season, regardless of Force India's decision.

"I will have to see what happens," Sutil said. "It's good that he [Mallya] is trying to give us more answers earlier because you never want to wait so long.

"As soon as I know, I will let you know. There's not so much I can say right now but yes, I see myself in Formula 1 absolutely."

Source: bbc.co.uk