Budapest, 28 July 2013: It was a tough afternoon for Sahara Force India in Budapest as both Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil retired from the Hungarian Grand Prix. The team is still handing on to the 5th position in the battle for Constructors’ title but with both McLaren drivers finishing in points the lead was narrowed to just two points at the half-way stage of the 19-race Formula One World Championship. In the tenth race of the season at Hungaroring, Jenson Button of team McLaren Mercedes finished 7th with teammate Sergio Perez managing 9th to gain 6 and 2 points respectively. Now Force India has 59 points after 10 races to McLaren’s 57. The Benz team is expected to do well in the second half of the season.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton has taken his first win for Mercedes in Hungary, using a three-stop strategy in some of the hottest conditions seen all year, with ambient temperatures peaking at 35 degrees centigrade. Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen was second with a two-stop strategy while Sebastian Vettel finished third for Red Bull to extend his championship lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso heading into the Formula One summer break.
Today, Paul di Resta, who started on P18, made a brilliant start and was on P12 at one point of time. But he lost balance and unable to manage tyres, retired. Sutil also retired much earlier.
After the race Paul said: “I made a good start and was very aggressive on the opening lap. I think I was up to about P12, but from there on it was difficult because I was struggling with the balance and tyre performance. Without the speed we did not have the flexibility to make the strategy work and points were looking out of reach. Towards the end of the race the team called me to the pits because it seems we had picked up a hydraulic issue, similar to the problem with the other car. Over the summer break we will regroup, analyse things properly and take a fresh approach into the second part of the year.”
Adrian Sutil had a disappointing 100th race of his career. “It’s disappointing not to finish, especially as the race was coming back to me after a poor start on the medium tyres. Just before my pit stop I had a problem with the gear shifts and I could not shift up any more. I came into the pits and it became clear we had a hydraulic problem so the team immediately told me to park the car,” he said.
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director, said: “It’s not been the easiest of weekends for us and it’s disappointing to come away from Budapest without any points. Adrian celebrated his 100th Grand Prix this weekend, but he remained out of luck in Hungary and had to retire early with a hydraulic problem. His strategy was looking good so he missed a chance of points today. Paul’s race was quite straightforward, but we did not have the speed to make his three-stop strategy work – despite his superb start. With a few laps to go we noticed a similar hydraulic issue with his car and he also had to retire. With the next race coming up in four weeks’ time, we will analyse our performance and work hard to recapture our form in Spa.”
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Adrian Sutil poses before his 100th race at Budapest on Sunday. A Sahara Force India photo
