Formula One news
Tragedy for Sutil and Force India
19 April 2009 / Results / PhotosThe Force India team was devastated to see a possible three points vanish in China, when Adrian Sutil's crash in the final stages signalled the loss of his sixth position. The German drove superbly to be running ahead of World Champion Lewis Hamilton but failed to keep the car under control when aquaplaning occurred at Turn 5.
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Having started 18th, the team refuelled Sutil under safety car conditions at the start of the race, giving themselves more strategic options later in the race. It was not to be a positive end because, like in Monaco last year, a chance of the Indian squad's first ever World Championship points disappeared in a flash.
"What a phenomenal race, and yet what heartbreak," said team owner Vijay Mallya. "We can all be very proud of Adrian and the team's achievements today; he has proved yet again that he has a genuine flair in the wet, and came desperately close to scoring those elusive points once more. We made all the right calls in the race and functioned very well as a team - it was just such a shame we couldn't translate it to points at the end."
With the slowest car on the grid at the moment, the German's target was to finish the race. "I had prepared myself for a hard race and that's exactly what it was," Sutil commented. "We took a risk with the strategy with a very early stop, and it was a long way to go with one set of tyres. Then it started to rain again and it was very hard to keep the car on the circuit. Sometimes, even in a straight line in fourth or fifth gear, I was struggling with aquaplaning and was very lucky to keep the car on the circuit for so long."
The race-ending shunt came at Turn 5, as Sutil's overcorrection to aquaplaning put the car sideways and into the wall. "It's a shame," he continued. "You focus so much and think you can do it, but the car was just out of control at the end. I had the same feeling as Monaco - it's hard to believe when you are in the car and then suddenly you lose it and it's all over from such a great position. But you have to get over it, and we had a great performance today. It's good for the team and I think we deserved the points, but I just feel bad for everyone here. It was a very good strategic call, but that's what we had to do - take a risk." Team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella did finish the race, albeit 14th and a lap down.
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