Force India hails 'perfect' end to 2011

Force India labelled its performance in the final race of the 2011 season as a perfect way to complete a strong campaign on its way to sixth place in the standings, its best result to date.

 

"Today's result is the perfect way to end what has been a tremendous season for Force India," said deputy team principal

Robert Fernley after Adrian Sutil finished in sixth position and Paul di Resta in eighth.

"Adrian and Paul drove brilliant races to add 12 more points to our tally and confirm our sixth place in the championship - our highest finish to date. 

"I'm also very pleased that we could move Adrian up to ninth in the drivers' standings. As a team we have taken great strides forward this season and now is the time to congratulate everyone who has contributed to that. We head into the winter in good spirits and determined to come back even stronger next year to pick up where we left off."

Sutil, whose future at the team remains uncertain, was also delighted with the result, which allowed him to jump Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov in the standings to secure ninth.

"I'm really happy about the result today," Sutil said. "It completes a great weekend where everything went to plan. I had a good feeling in all the sessions and the team did a brilliant job to give me such a good car today. We also made the right calls with the strategy because we knew there was a chance to beat Mercedes, and that's exactly what we did. 

"So I'm very happy with my sixth place – it's the best way to end the year and it also means that I move up to ninth place in the drivers' championship, which was my aim."

Di Resta added: "My eighth place today is a great result after quite a tough race for me. There was a concern with the gearbox around half way through the race so the team told me to just try and bring the car home.

"In the final stint it was just a case of managing the gap to Kobayashi behind me and we had enough to do that quite easily in the end.

"So that's the end of my first season of Formula 1 and it's been a great year, especially now we have finished sixth in the championship. It's well deserved for the entire team and I want to thank everyone for their help and support during this amazing year."

Source: autosport.com