Home » Sports » Motor Racing
Mallya: Another Spa surprise unlikely
Source: Agencies |
August 25, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FORCE India returns to the scene of its greatest race this weekend with scant hopes of repeating last year's Belgian Grand Prix heroics.
The team took its first Formula One pole position at Spa-Francorchamps last August with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella then going on to score its first points with a stunning second place finish.
Fisichella is now a Ferrari test driver while Force India is sixth overall in the championship.
Drivers Adrian Sutil of Germany and Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi have been scoring regular points but still remain a long way from podium finishes.
"It's going to be tough to replicate the kind of form we showed in Spa last year," said team principal Vijay Mallya in a preview of Sunday's race.
"Everybody's improved, the competition is fierce and also very even in the midfield - the gaps between teams is so small now."
Force India should still be competitive in Belgium, with the Mercedes-powered team bringing a new rear wing package in addition to the 'F-duct' which should give it a speed advantage on the long Spa straights.
"Additionally we will be using the new blown floor on both cars on Friday," said Mallya.
"We tried it in Hungary, and we hope to actually race it in Spa if the information we gather shows as much of an improvement as it did there."
Sutil, who has spent the summer break filming and doing PR work in Goa and training in Switzerland, looked forward to a strong performance.
"I'm pretty confident that we've got a car that will still suit the track very well," he said.
The team took its first Formula One pole position at Spa-Francorchamps last August with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella then going on to score its first points with a stunning second place finish.
Fisichella is now a Ferrari test driver while Force India is sixth overall in the championship.
Drivers Adrian Sutil of Germany and Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi have been scoring regular points but still remain a long way from podium finishes.
"It's going to be tough to replicate the kind of form we showed in Spa last year," said team principal Vijay Mallya in a preview of Sunday's race.
"Everybody's improved, the competition is fierce and also very even in the midfield - the gaps between teams is so small now."
Force India should still be competitive in Belgium, with the Mercedes-powered team bringing a new rear wing package in addition to the 'F-duct' which should give it a speed advantage on the long Spa straights.
"Additionally we will be using the new blown floor on both cars on Friday," said Mallya.
"We tried it in Hungary, and we hope to actually race it in Spa if the information we gather shows as much of an improvement as it did there."
Sutil, who has spent the summer break filming and doing PR work in Goa and training in Switzerland, looked forward to a strong performance.
"I'm pretty confident that we've got a car that will still suit the track very well," he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
