FORCE INDIA TO CONTINUE TESTING UPDATES

After Force India failed to get conclusive results from its new aero package in last weekend’sSpanish Grand Prix, it has decided to continue testing the update in Monaco.

The Silverstone-based outfit has been conducting an aero development programme since the Turkish Grand Prix but has been struggling with it ever since.Adrian Sutil confirmed at Barcelona, “It is probably going to be more difficult than we thought.”

Looking back at the results atCatalunya, teammate Paul di Resta added , "The team did a great job with strategy, but we just weren’t quick enough, and you have to be realistic about your targets.

Nevertheless, the squad intends to close the gap to its immediate rivals, Sauber and Toro Rosso, by adding to its points tally in the Monaco Grand Prix.

“Our approach to Monaco will be similar to Barcelona as we continue to evaluate our new aero platform,” confirmed team principal Vijay Mallya. “It’s especially challenging to introduce this without in-season testing and it will take time for us to fully understand and bring through this new philosophy.

“We will therefore continue to run elements of the new package this weekend so that we can have a phased-introduction over the next few races,” he said.

After failing to score in its last three outings, Force India is currently eighth in the constructors’ championship trailing two teams it finished ahead of in last year’s standings.

“We saw in Barcelona just how competitive Formula 1 is at the moment and the teams around us in the midfield are all quite evenly matched,” Mallya added.

“I expect another close fight in Monaco, but we will be pushing hard to be at the head of the midfield group to try and pick up some more points.”

Di Resta's 'home' hopes

BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA will live the dream this weekend when he races on the tortuously tight streets of Monte Carlo in the Monaco Grand Prix. And the 25-year-old Scot (pictured walking the track today) has a detailed knowledge of the track; he's been living in the Principality since the beginning of the year.

"Moving to Monaco was definitely the right step for me," Di Resta, a proud Scot who wrestled with himself before the move to the South of France, said today. "I love being at home in Scotland, but you can't travel from there. We travel 30 weeks a year, so it's a good place to travel from, to relax and enjoy it. Then we also have the weather for training and my trainer also lives in Monaco.

"Being here helps me stay focused. I felt whenever I had time off it would be the right place to switch off. You're out of the way. So it was about the lifestyle more than anything else. That's what it was, a full lifestyle change. Formula 1 is a short life, so I definitely want to enjoy it and I just love being here."

And while Di Resta admits he can't wait to jump into his Force India racer tomorrow for Free Practice — unlike every other F1 grand prix, the Free Practice sessions take place on Thursday in Monaco — there is, understandably, a degree of apprehension as it is six years since he drove around the unforgiving streets.

"It's one I'm so looking forward to, in particular as it's a home grand prix bearing in mind I live there now," he continued. "It's going to be something special.

"Monaco is about using track time and building yourself up slowly, so hopefully that approach will work. But with the barriers so close, a different mentality is needed.

"I have raced here though in the past. I drove in the Euro F3 Series, so I have experience of driving with the walls and barriers so close. But that was six years ago and jumping into the F1 car is going to be totally different."

And the Scot is hoping the aerodynamic problems, which stopped the latest update being fitted to his race car for last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, have been corrected as he bids for the speed which will see him become a regular top 10 finisher.

"We came away from Spain feeling relatively happy, but clearly we need a bit of pace to make the next step and score points again," the Scot, who still finished an impressive 12th in Barcelona, said.

"The team have done work on how the car was running with the new package, and they've been in the tunnel and seen the direction.

"Hopefully it is going to give us a bit more performance and we did see benefits in Spain — big benefits at certain points. But it still makes this weekend a difficult one to gauge.

"The race weekend at Monaco is perhaps the most demanding mentally simply because the margins for error are so, so small, their almost non-existent. An inch offline and that could be the end of the race. Having said that, I can't wait to jump in the car."

FORCE INDIA SATISFIED WITH SPAIN RESULTS

Force India indicated that it did not expect to move up any higher from the positions it achieved in theSpanish Grand Prix on Sunday adding that the VJM04 needed more speed to catch up in the standings.

Rookie driver Paul di Resta finished ahead of experienced teammate Adrian Sutil – now for the third time in five outings – in 12th and 13th respectively after the 66-lap race in a result it expected to be.

“I think we can go away quite satisfied with the result today, especially after making up four places on our grid position,” the Scot said after the race.

“I also got stuck a few times behind the Toro Rossos in the first, second and third stints, without which I probably could have finished a bit higher up,” di Resta pointed out.

The Silverstone-based outfit currently lies eighth in the constructors’ championship behind two teams it finished ahead of last year signifying the lack of pace compared to its immediate rivals.

“We know we have plenty of work to do before next week’s race in Monaco and we still need to find some speed if we want to stay at the front of the midfield battle,” deputy team principal Robert Fernley added.

“Sauber, Williams and Toro Rosso are all very closely matched at the moment and we need to establish our position at the head of that group and pushing the top ten.”

IT'S THE BEST WE COULD HAVE HOPED

Barcelona, Spain: Sunday, May 22, 2011

Paul narrowly missed out on scoring world championship points when he finished 12th in today's Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, one place ahead of his more experienced team-mate Adrian Sutil.

Paul, along with the rest of his Force India team, now head to Monte Carlo for next weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, the Blue Riband event of the season. But before heading to the principality, he gave his views of the weekend in Spain.

"There are a lot of positives we can take away from this weekend, and I think we can go away quite satisfied with the result today, especially after making up four places on our grid position.

"We saved a set of new tyres yesterday which compromised our qualifying, but that was definitely the right approach. Today we were just missing a bit more pace to do any more. 

"It was frustrating at times today because I also got stuck a few times behind the Toro Rossos in the first, second and third stints; if that hadn't happened I'm confident I'd have probably finished a bit higher up. 

"The big positive is we made the strategy work, the pitstops went well and I think this result is the most we could have expected without the cars ahead of us running into problems.”

Di Resta hopes tyre gamble will pay off

Paul di Resta is hopeful a tyre gamble will pay off in tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix, after deciding to compromise his qualifying for the chance of a stronger race.

The Force India driver qualified down in 16th position as the team decided to save two sets of soft tyres for tomorrow's race.

Di Resta said his position was not representative of his car's true speed, and is optimistic the decision to sacrifice qualifying will be rewarded tomorrow.

Force India also decided to revert to the old spec aero package as it did not have enough time to get to terms with the new one.

"I don't think our position on the grid is that representative of our true pace this weekend," said di Resta. "We took the decision very early on that saving tyres for the race would free up our strategy a bit. That means I've got two sets of new options and a set of new primes to use tomorrow. 

"On paper that looks like the sensible approach so hopefully things will work out. How we use the tyres is also important because there's a big difference between the two compounds in terms of pace. 

"Also, the prime being used here is much harder than usual and so it lasts a bit longer. I'm looking forward to the race and I'm sure we can come away with a better result than our qualifying performance."

Team-mate Adrian Sutil is also confident that today's tyre gamble will pay off in the race after finishing down in 17th place.

"We went back to a package and balance that we were already happy with," he said. "We also know that qualifying is not as important as it used to be and that race strategy now plays a bigger factor in your race result. 

"That's why we only ran the prime tyres during Q2 so that we could keep some new option tyres for the race. We feel this is the best approach for tomorrow and hopefully it will pay us back."