Turkish Grand Prix Preview
The Force India Formula One Team now heads east for round
five of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Turkish
Grand Prix, held at the Istanbul Park circuit from 9 - 11
May.
Fresh from its first top 10 finish at the last event in Spain,
the team has high hopes of sustaining this momentum for the
remainder of the season.
Team quotes
Dr. Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director
'Nothing is a better feeling at this stage in the season than
a top 10 result. We've been in the sport for five months,
and it's a feeling that makes us believe in ourselves and
confirm that we're making progress. We shouldn't underestimate
this achievement - this team was getting better all the time
last year, however regular top 12 finishes were something
of a rarity. I hope this year we can make it a permanent trend.
'To do so we need to look at our qualifying so we start higher
up and can take full advantage of the car's potential now.
Once more in Spain we showed well in practice but seemed to
lose it in qualifying, but I have every confidence that we'll
isolate the reason and move on.
'Again, Giancarlo had a very strong race in Spain and completely
vindicated our decision to take him on at the start of the
year. On a faster track in Istanbul that should suit us more,
I think there is more to come too. For Adrian, he was very
unfortunate, but I am sure that his luck will turn, as luck
does. He's got a lot of talent, he's quick, and I think he
can do a good job for us. What we have to remember is that
Giancarlo is approaching his 200th Grand Prix, Adrian has
competed in just over 20, that's a tenth of the number of
his team mate. Together however I think we have a very strong
pairing and are exactly where we should be at this stage in
the season.'
Colin Kolles, team principal
'Unfortunately we were struggling in qualifying in Barcelona
where we could not replicate the free practice pace and performance.The
race was however another step forward, with Giancarlo driving
the car to its absolute limit and giving the Force India team
our best result so far.
'As we showed, we are getting closer to the points and this
now has to be our main target. We hope that both drivers will
finish the race and show that the team is moving forward.'
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
'Turkey is an exciting track, with turn eight in particular
a very challenging high speed corner. The VJM01 is very good
in high speed turns - we performed very well for example in
sector one in Barcelona, the quickest part of the track, so
I think the car will also go well in Istanbul. Traditionally
we have has some success in Turkey and we know the car is
reliable so we should look to have a good weekend.
'We have no specific updates on the car and will be using
basically the same spec car we raced in Barcelona as we are
concentrating on development for Monaco and Canada, both of
which we have specific packages for.
'One item to emerge in Barcelona was that the free practice
and race form was relatively good, but we dropped a long way
off in qualifying. It was clear that on Saturday, fuel corrected,
we couldn't get anywhere near the times we were able to do
on Friday, even though the track was clearly much quicker.
We dropped the ball and we have to make sure we don't do that
in Turkey, but we have looked at the reasons and have identified
some areas we can improve.
'I don't see any reason why the qualifying form we showed
in the first three races where we were very close to getting
into Q2 cannot be replicated in Istanbul. That has to be the
aim now, but overall we need to get two cars to the finish
with two strong race performances. We've shown with our finishes
with Giancarlo that we can pick up points if they're available
and stay with the other runners. We have to make sure we do
that in Turkey too.'
Driver quotes
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21, VJM01/05)
'We are doing better than we expected at the moment, as apart
from Australia, we have finished every race in the top 12.
We are still a young team but everyone is getting more confident
with every race and getting in the top 10 in Spain was our
best finishing position of the year so far.
'The car balance was good and our second stint in the race
was particularly encouraging. We need to improve in qualifying
now as we had some problems with reduced grip and had to do
two flying laps, which isn't ideal. We have spent a lot of
time analysing why the performance drops from practice to
qualifying and I am hopeful we will not have the same problems
again in Turkey. Of course at the moment the field is so close
that one tenth of a second can mean the difference between
Q2 and just missing out, so we have to make sure we are completely
on top of the game.
'I enjoy Istanbul and have had some good results there, including
a 4th in 2005. It's a very challenging track with some nice
high-speed sections that are difficult to get right. It is
going to be a tough race but once again we need to keep pushing.
The car is very reliable and, if we get qualifying right,
we could be up there again in the top 10 and ready to take
advantage and pick up points if anything happens in front.'
Adrian Sutil (car 20, VJM01/02)
'The goal for the Turkish Grand Prix has got to be to get
a strong finish and to be able to say we had a good weekend
at the end of the event, that is, we had a good race, a good
qualifying - I want the complete package.
'There have been problems in the races until now, with a
couple of mechanical failures and accidents. I said in Barcelona
that this is where the season should start, and from the performance
side I was very happy as I was where I really should be, but
then I had some bad luck again at the start.
'Last year Turkey was an OK race but I had to retire on the
last lap. It was a bit frustrating as it had been a good race
until that point. It is a great track with good corners and
now this year we go a little bit earlier to the race so it
should not be as big a problem with the heat. I look forward
to this race and hopefully it will go without any problems.
I think the rest of the season should be much better than
it has been and hopefully it really starts in Turkey now.'
Turkish Grand Prix information
The Turkish Grand Prix, held at the 14-turn 5.338km Istanbul
Park Circuit, was introduced to the FIA Formula One World
Championship calendar in 2005. Designed by circuit constructor
Herman Tilke, the track stands on the Asian side of the Bosphorus
and is the furthest point of the season that the team's trucks
will travel this year.
The circuit will be the first anti-clockwise track of the
year and is a thrilling combination of undulating straights,
dramatic gradient changes, where over the course of a lap
elevation varies by almost 46 metres, and long sweeping bends.
It's popular with teams and in particular drivers relish the
challenging turn eight, basically four corners taken on the
same line at around 250kph, and the two long straights where
cars can reach up to 330kph.
Istanbul Park is a medium downforce track that demands high-speed
efficiency and a well-balanced car to maximise speed in the
slower sections. Bridgestone will be bringing the medium and
hard tyre compounds to the race as tyre wear can be high in
Turkey's searing temperatures. Although the race will be held
in spring this year, rather than the heat of the August summer
as in previous seasons, hot weather and low humidity is still
expected.
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