Force India's hopes remain a hit after Bahrain podium miss

"Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it."- Barack Obama, November 7, 2012.

Force India must concede that its problems, probably the least it has had at the start of a season since it stepped into Formula 1, are nothing compared to what American president Barack Obama faces as he heads an unstable and a vast economy.

But what they do have in common – other than that 2008 was the year both came into prominence, one winning a bid and the other stepping into a sport - is hope.

And while Obama’s approval ratings may be dwindling, Force India has been on the upward spiral – from leading to the season-ending race in Brazil last year to challenging for a podium four races into the 2013 campaign.

Its potential was evident at the Australian Grand Prix when Adrian Sutil, who had missed the entire last season and had limited track time in testing, briefly led the race albeit largely credited to its strategy.

Three races later, Force India has been contemplating what it could have done in hindsight to grab the final spot on the podium in Bahrain.

“Nothing,” di Resta replied. “We believe we had optimised the strategy.”
Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, with three pit stops, snatched third place from the Scot in the closing stages and finished 2.2 seconds ahead of the two-stopping Force India.

“Obviously a team of engineers analyses that,” di Resta told F1Pulse.com defending the strategy, which resulted him equalling his best result in F1 by finishing fourth, as he did in Singapore last year.

Such was the pace of the Force India at the Bahrain Grand Prix that Adrian Sutil, who got entangled with the Ferrari of Felipe Massa on the opening laps and was forced to pit with a puncture, was nearly two seconds faster than Sebastian Vettel – excluding the first two laps - by the end of the race.

The Red Bull won the Grand Prix by 9.1 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and 19.5 seconds ahead of Grosjean. Surely, di Resta had missed something then, you’d ask?

“Adrian's race was quicker because he wasn't in traffic as much as I was. So you have to take all that into consideration,” said di Resta, suggesting his tyres were affected adversely much more than his teammate, particularly as he tried to look for avenues to pass the frontrunners early in the race.

“But we cannot remain disappointed with what we achieved,” the 27-year-old pointed out referring to Force India starting with both its cars in the top six for the first time. “Given where we were, we gave everything we had to give.”

Sure enough, the Bahrain Grand Prix post-race press release had di Resta quoted as saying that he had “managed to get 100 percent out of the car”, a belief validated by the engineers back at the factory later.
Sutil, meanwhile, has had two torrid races in a row. He had never scored in China and Bahrain and he extended that barren run this year, but with no fault of his own in either. And with Force India running at its optimum in years, the German may have missed some big opportunities.

“I know I missed out on some points,” he told F1Pulse.com “But these were only four races out of 19 so my target is to score a lot more points in the next 15 races and there'll be chances. There'll be chances to be on the podium. There'll be chances to score some decent points.”
Force India, the 30-year-old Sutil said, intends to carry its momentum through the course of the whole season.

“It's not about winning one race, like Williams did (in 2012). They won one race and they failed in every other race last year. And they were behind us at the end of the season,” he recalled. “So consistency is what it’s all about. There's nothing to worry about and to think that these first four races were our only opportunity (to score). That's not the case,” he said firmly.

But the ailing McLaren, which is currently trailing Force India in the constructors’ championship, continues to be its biggest threat with the British team planning to introduce a new front and rear wing, sidepods, deflectors, exhaust, floor and an engine cover at the Spanish Grand Prix next month.

“We will have a little update,” said Sutil in contrast. “Since China we have had a new package we have been trying to run. We decided not to do that for now but we'll keep on trying. We just need to understand how it works and to be confident to put it on to the car.

“In Barcelona, we'll definitely have some new parts to try again to put us in a better position,” the German added.

Moreover, the temperatures in Bahrain helped Force India immensely, as it got its tyres to work more or less as expected. In the European leg of the season, however, conditions are expected to be relatively cooler.

And with Pirelli likely to change compounds before the next race in Spain, it spells out as more uncertainty for Force India to deal with.

“The tyres, we are good on those but I don't think we should be really worried about them,” Sutil said. “They'll probably change a little bit for Barcelona. I think there'll be a new hard compound. The medium stays the same. But we'll still be able to perform well.

“I don't think it’s only a tyre related thing that we are so much better than everyone else,” he continued. “I am not worried about the new tyres. I am looking forward to any challenge.”

It’s not just tyre related and it isn’t just suspension related either. Force India hasn’t got its magnifying glass out to spy in the Mercedes or Lotus garages just yet.

“The whole design of the car, I wouldn’t say it’s just the suspension (that’s the key element),” says di Resta. “We have many different things in the car that we can control and that obviously changes each year... It’s a vicious circle but it’s about understanding them.”

Force India, currently in a virtuous circle, can bet on the competition getting stronger in Spain, and its advantage potentially diminishing from McLaren’s resurgence, lower temperatures, changes in tyre compounds and immediate rivals Sauber and Williams eating away some of its points.
But there’s still hope, but not that of blind optimism.

Source : F1pulse.com