Di Resta: Bahrain result the boost Force India needed

Red Bull may have bounced back to their winning ways in Bahrain but there was another success story from Sakhir, courtesy of Force India’s Paul di Resta. Despite high tyre wear at the circuit, Di Resta excelled after brilliantly exploiting his brave two-stop strategy to record the team’s highest finish so far this year with sixth place.

The young Scot was the only driver to resist the call of a third pit stop and, although he started to struggle on his final set of rubber with over 10 laps to go before the chequered flag, helped by some shrewd KERS usage he managed to stay ahead of the chasing Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. He crossed the finish line just two-tenths ahead of the Spaniard.

“Obviously we chose to play our cards differently to other people, to try and make a two-stop work,” Di Resta explained to the team’s official website. “If it was going to work we had to put ourselves in the best position to do that. OK, we were vulnerable at the end, but overall you’ve got to accept that you might be vulnerable at the end of the race for a few positions.

“(My tyres were gone by the last lap) but I did use them, I was a bit heavy footed on the throttle. But Fernando doesn’t give up, does he? He was pushing on. The engineer was keeping me updated and I said, ‘Let me concentrate, I know he’s there, I’ll do my best to do it.’ And I had to play my cards right, because I had to save KERS for the end of the lap, when I was going to be more vulnerable to him.”

Although he managed to keep Alonso behind until the finish, earlier in his final stint Di Resta did have to let Nico Rosberg by in the Mercedes. However, he was happy with his pragmatic decision.

“I tried to make it difficult for Nico, but my tyres were degrading too quickly, whereas at the beginning of the race he was degrading faster and I was reeling him in,” he explained. “You get your moment. He got by me, but sixth position for us is a massive achievement, it’s probably the same as Sebastian winning the race for what we’ve achieved with the car that we’ve got.”

And after such a strong showing, Di Resta is hopeful the team’s confidence will be boosted and they will enjoy another solid performance at next month’s Spanish Grand Prix.

“I think when you have a result like that any team bond gets closer, because I think given everybody’s performance we’ve tried to step it up and tried to do the best, and we’ve probably outperformed any performance we’ve ever done as a team,” he concluded. “We go away happy and hopeful that we can build on this performance in Barcelona.”

Before the Catalunya race, Di Resta will be in action for Force India at next week’s Mugello test. He gets behind the wheel of the VJM05 on Wednesday.


Source: F1.com (official F1 website)

Force India 'better off' than expected

Force India is in a better position than it expected to be at this point of the season as it prepares to update its car, according to deputy team principal Bob Fernley.

As a result of a highly competitive battle with Renault (now Lotus) for fifth place in the constructors' championship last season, development on the new Force India was slightly behind schedule throughout the winter. The team launched a solid all-round car during pre-season with a major upgrade planned for the Mugello test next week, and Fernley admitted that it is in a better place than expected.

"Our plan heading into the first four races was to use good race craft and good strategy with a car that perhaps wasn't where we wanted it to be," Fernley is quoted by Sky Sports. "And I think we delivered on that quite well, with only the one bad result in Shanghai. We're probably better off than we thought in some ways, but we still have to deliver the next bit.

"Of course, we've some wonderful teams around us who are not sitting still either, so it depends on what they deliver and whether we can close the gap. As to whether we've given ourselves a platform now, and with the package to come, hopefully the answer is yes."

Source: en.espnf1.com

Di Resta: Sixth keeps Sauber in sight

Paul di Resta thinks that results like his sixth-placed finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix will enable Force India to recover the ground lost to Sauber after the Swiss team's near-victory in Malaysia earlier this year.

Sauber got a jump on its midfield rivals in the constructors' championship battle when Sergio Perez bagged 18 points at Sepang, leaving Force India 21 adrift at the time.

But with the Silverstone-based team waiting on a major upgrade package for the Spanish GP, di Resta executed a marginal two-stop strategy in Bahrain to take eight points for finishing sixth. That has trimmed the gap to Sauber down to 14 points after the first four flyaway races.

Looking at the constructors' battle, di Resta said: "After what Sauber did in Malaysia, it keeps them in our sights. If we put performance on this car then we can get by them.

"Maintaining sixth this year was going to be difficult, but we'll keep on track, keep on picking up the points. And being realistic about it, if we can get results like that, then they are like wins to us as a midfield team."

Di Resta also praised his Force India team for the result it achieved in difficult circumstances in Bahrain, where travel safety concerns led to both he and Nico Hulkenberg skipping second practice on Friday.

"It was an outstanding performance by every member of the team this weekend, and under difficult circumstances," he added. "They played everything right - strategy and pit stops. I worked with my engineer to dial the car in right, and the track came to us.

"We've got to be happy and hopeful the upgrade we're going to bolt on the car keeps us in this position going into Barcelona."

Source: Autosport.com

Di Resta praises Force India strategy

Paul di Resta praised Force India's strategy for his sixth place in the Bahrain Grand Prix as he managed to two-stop in the race.

Force India skipped the second practice session on Friday in order to leave the circuit before nightfall after an incident on Wednesday evening. That put the team on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, but di Resta responded by qualifying in the top ten and then two-stopping to finish sixth, and he said that despite a lack of data the team picked the right strategy to make up places.

"We didn't make the best start," di Resta told Sky Sports. "I fell back a few places - we've had a few difficulties this year - but I was able to get passed Senna on the first lap, passed Perez two laps later and I was looking after the tyres at that point. I saw everybody coming in to the points and there was absolutely no sign of my tyres degrading at that point. Even to the point where we could have probably went a bit further but we were falling behind cars that were three stopping that were behind us then so you were going to be coming out in traffic that you didn't want to.

"We had to stop a bit earlier and that's probably why we lost out to Nico in the end, not being able to just get in clean air when we wanted to but everything's a gamble at the end of the day. We've chosen the right strategy to push us forward; we were running fifth at one point and getting sixth is a lot of points for us given where the car is at the moment."

After explaining how he held on to sixth place Di Resta said the result would act as motivation for Force India ahead of the start of the European season next month.

"The result today is massive for us. The team did an amazing job all weekend, the strategy came together and the pit-stops were perfect. We knew it would be a big ask to make only two stops and it was a close run thing at the end because my tyres completely went away on the final lap. I had Fernando [Alonso] very close behind me, but I saved a bit of KERS coming out of the final corner and managed to stay ahead. Apart from that, the car has been awesome. So we go away from here as a very happy team with a few weeks to reflect on things and determined to arrive in Barcelona in fighting form."

Source: En.espnf1.com

Bahrain Race - Force India driver quotes..

Paul di Resta (6th)
“The result today is massive for us. The team did an amazing job all weekend, the strategy came together and the pit-stops were perfect. We knew it would be a big ask to make only two stops and it was a close run thing at the end because my tyres completely went away on the final lap. I had Fernando [Alonso] very close behind me, but I saved a bit of KERS coming out of the final corner and managed to stay ahead. Apart from that, the car has been awesome. So we go away from here as a very happy team with a few weeks to reflect on things and determined to arrive in Barcelona in fighting form.”

Nico Hulkenberg (12th)
“I think my race was decided at the very start when I had some clutch issues and the anti-stall kicked in, which really compromised my getaway and dropped me right to the back of the pack. From then on it was a long, hard fight back through the field, and it was hard work coming through the traffic. I made it to P12, but there wasn’t much more I could do. So a tough race for me, but great to see Paul pick up some points.”

Robert Fernley, Force India deputy team principal
“Considering everything that has gone on this week, I am delighted to see such a strong team performance in today’s race. We took a brave call on the strategy with Paul, but it paid off, and having saved the tyres yesterday allowed us to push the two-stop window right to the limit. Once again Paul drove a superb race, lapping consistently and making the strategy work perfectly. This sixth place is well-deserved and matches his best result in Formula One. It’s a shame that Nico was the victim of a clutch issue on the opening lap, otherwise I’m sure he would have been up there fighting for points as well. Before we leave Bahrain I want to pay tribute to the team once again and thank each and every one of them for helping make today’s result possible.


Source: Formula1.com

Friday practice - Force India driver quotes

Paul di Resta, P1 - 1:34.150, 3rd
“The track was very green and dusty to begin with, but we got on with the programme quickly and did the usual balance work, cooling checks and got a feel for both the medium and the soft tyres. The baseline set-up was not a long way off, but our focus for tomorrow is to improve our performance in the low-speed corners.”

Nico Hulkenberg, P1 - 1:34.344, 6th
“It was a different approach to FP1 today and we made sure we ran all three sets of tyres to get the data we need for the race. The session went okay and the car felt quite good out of the box, although there is still some fine-tuning to do in FP3.”

Jakob Andreasen, Force India chief engineer
“A very busy morning programme with a lot to get through considering we haven’t raced in Bahrain for a couple of years. After the initial balance checks we looked at our brake and engine cooling solutions and dialled the cars into the circuit with some mechanical and aero set-up work. We have pretty much used up our tyre allocation this morning, which has given us all the data we need heading into tomorrow when we can hopefully deliver a strong qualifying performance.”


Source: Formula1.com

Force India downplays lack of running

Force India is confident that missing second practice in Bahrain will not impact too much on its competitiveness for the rest of the weekend.

 

The team has elected not to run in Friday afternoon's session at Sakhir in the wake of the incident on Wednesday when members of its crew were caught up with protestors.

Force India completed a soft tyre run - which would usually be saved for Friday afternoon - in the morning session, and is now converting its cars to Saturday specification before the team leaves the circuit early.

Chief engineer Jakob Andreasen said Force India had made sure it did enough work in the morning to compensate for the lack of practice two running.

"We have pretty much used up our tyre allocation this morning, which has given us all the data we need heading into tomorrow when we can hopefully deliver a strong qualifying performance," he said.

Although a Force India statement said it was missing practice two "for logistical reasons the team will run a rescheduled programme for the rest of the weekend, which will result in the team missing second practice to ensure the most competitive performance in FP3, qualifying and the race", deputy team principal Bob Fernley told reporters earlier in the day that a desire to travel back from the circuit before darkness was the key factor.

"We are looking at it from the point of view of ensuring the well being of everybody and the comfort of everybody is in place. And that is the key objective for us," he said.

"We have had issues as you all know with things, and we have to make sure that the crew are comfortable in the environment and that is what we are working on."

Fernley added: "We are doing the best we can to make sure the crew are safe. We have assurances and I don't believe there will be any issues. There will be protests and I think it was an unfortunate incident, but unfortunate incidents happen. When it is your team it happens to, you have to deal with it in a proper manner which is what we are doing."

Source:  Autosport.com