Force India bags maiden Q3 position at Chinese Grand Prix
April 16th, 2011 - 5:19 pm ICT by IANSShanghai, April 16 (IANS) Force India put up their best qualifying performance of the 2011 Formula One season as Paul di Resta (1:36.190) made it to Q3 for the first time and finished eighth fastest at the Chinese Grand Prix here Saturday.
Hispania’s Narain Karthikeyan was the slowest in the 24 drivers’ line-up.
Reigining champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull (1:33.706) continued his scintillating run as he secured his third straight pole position in as many races. The German went on to win the last two races from pole. McLaren’s Jenson Button (1:34.421) and Lewis Hamilton (1:34.463) will start from second and third on the grid.
The day also belonged to Vijay Mallya owned Force India as the team put up an impressive show with British driver di Resta finishing among the top 10 drivers and teammate Adrian Sutil (1:35.874) narrowly missing the final session by recording the 11th fastest time amid overcast conditions.
“I could not have wished for more and it’s nice to get into Q3,” said Sutil.
“After missing the whole of free practice Friday we knew that it was going to be difficult this morning, but we have got a small upgrade here and it certainly improved the performance.
“Luckily, I did my quickest lap in the second running in Q1 as I just struggled a little bit with balance in the others. Our race pace seems to be not too bad so, fingers crossed, we can pick up some points again tomorrow as we have in the previous two Grand Prix.”
Di Resta and Sutil have picked two points each from the earlier races and the team is at the seventh position in the constructor’s championship.
Karthikeyan (1:40.445) in Hispania, however, managed to sneak in under the 107 percent time rule but was again slower than his teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi (1:40.212) and will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid.
- Sutil, di Resta 14th and 15th fastest in Monaco qualifying - May 28, 2011
- Webber claims pole, Di Resta 6th fastest at British GP - Jul 09, 2011
- Formula One: Indian Grand Prix begins - Oct 30, 2011
- No points for Force India, Karthikeyan 21st at Turkish GP - May 08, 2011
- Force India disappoint, Vettel wins Spanish Grand Prix - May 22, 2011
- Vettel takes pole for Indian GP, Karthikeyan penalised - Oct 29, 2011
- Vettel claims another pole, Sutil sneaks into 10th at European GP - Jun 25, 2011
- Karthikeyan completes race for first time, no points for Force India - Apr 17, 2011
- Force India's Sutil 8th fastest in opening practice at Monaco GP - May 26, 2011
- Italian GP: Di Resta's 8th place puts Force India ahead of Sauber - Sep 11, 2011
- Di Resta, Sutil to start 11th and 12th in Italian Grand Prix - Sep 10, 2011
- Vettel equals pole record in Abu Dhabi, Force India secure top-10 finish - Nov 12, 2011
- Di Resta fetches a point for Force India - Apr 10, 2011
- Vettel breaks pole record in season finale, Sutil to start 8th - Nov 27, 2011
- Vettel wins maiden Monaco Grand Prix, Force India seventh - May 30, 2011
Tags: adrian sutil, constructor, fastest time, final session, force india, formula one, hispania, jenson button, lewis hamilton, narain karthikeyan, overcast conditions, pole position, q1, q3, race pace, red bull, resta, sebastian vettel, teammate, time rule