By IANS,
Montreal : Force India’s Canadian Grand Prix ended in a disappointing double retirement at the scorchingly hot Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve here.
Adrian Sutil’s race ended on lap 13 with a gearbox issue, while Giancarlo Fisichella was halted on lap 51 with a spin and anti-stall problem here Sunday.
The duo nevertheless demonstrated a strong performance and were once again able to keep pace with the field. Before his first stop, Giancarlo was into eighth position following the first safety car period. However a stall in his pit stop due to low fuel pressure on lap 30 dropped him to 17th and the rear of the field.
The Italian however put in a series of quick laps to close the gap to 16th, but his race came to a premature end under 20 laps from the flag fall.
The team will now focus on an improved showing in Magny Cours, France, for the eighth event of the year in just two weeks’ time.
“I couldn’t shift into second or third gear and didn’t have any speed anymore and I had to stop after 12 laps which was frustrating. The track was not too bad at the start, it looked more difficult than it was but the hairpin was quite okay. It was very dirty at the beginning, but at that stage I think our pace was quite good. I just couldn’t find a way to get past the two Toyotas, which was a bit of a problem as they were holding me up, but the pace was there, we just finished too early with this technical problem.” said Sutil.
Fisichella said that he experienced problems in getting a grip on the track.
“It was a difficult race and the grip level was poor as the track was breaking down and at the end it was like being in a four wheel drive car. I think our pace was there, particularly in the second stint, but during the first pit stop I had a problem with the stall and dropped right back,” he added.
Force India’s chairman and managing director Vijay Mallya said that the management would analyse the issue so that such issues don’t arise in future.
“We have to keep these things in mind but look forward to the next race in France and not let this disappointment get us down. I do think there are however many positives we can take over to France; Giancarlo was very competitive in his last stint and overall we have been very close to the midfield all weekend. It was just a shame that we could not translate this performance into a result here today,” he said.