Sutil Admits Force India Needs 0.2 Secs to Beat Renault

Force India's Adrian Sutil scored his first points in the 2010 Formula One championship last Sunday, when driving a consistent race to finish 5th in the Australian Grand Prix. His weekend was pretty good all around, as he also managed to get into Q3 on Saturday and score an impressive 4th fastest time (after leading the field with a few seconds to go).

Following his 10-point presence at Sepang, the German started dreaming of Top 10 finishes on a regular basis this season, insisting that this is something totally inside Force India's reach in 2010. He also pointed out to the VJM03's great capabilities under rainy conditions and argued that having at least one driver in Q3 race in and race out should not be a problem from now on.

“Our car is able to run consistently in the top 10 and we're definitely a strong team this year. (...) We can fight against the big teams. It's not easy, but it's possible sometimes and we just have to take our chances. In dry conditions it's always very close around eighth and 12th, and with a good lap in Q2 we can make it. It's tight, but it's possible. In the rain of course there's no question, we are really strong,” said Sutil, according to Autosport.

At the beginning of the season, Force India's boss Vijay Mallya publicly stated that his team's goal for the 2010 campaign is to finish 5th in the standings – some kind of “the best from the rest” considering the Top 4 favorites in the championship Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes. However, with Renault's Robert Kubica breaking the ranks in his R30 after the first 3 races, Sutil admitted his team has to find some new updates to help both him and teammate Vitanonio Liuzzi match the pace of the Renaults.

“This year Renault is making incredible starts. We have to focus on that. We're not bad, but we can improve,” added Sutil, pointing at one of Renault's advantages this season. “I still think we need to find 0.2s per lap to beat them.”