Sutil comes close to the feat

The Force India team had a good card to play thanks to an opportunistic strategy in this Chinese GP. By having Sutil refuel on the 4th lap, while the race was still under safety car regime, Vijay Mallya's men fired first. Taking advantage of the second neutralization, they called the German back to the pits on the 19th lap. Adrian then had to reach the finish with a car filled with gasoline for the next 37 laps.

Emerged victorious from a duel against Lewis Hamilton, Adrian thought he had done the biggest by settling into 6th position. Alas, the return of rain in the final laps sounded the death knell for his hopes. With tires in agony, he could not avoid going off the track six laps from the checkered flag?

“I was prepared for a difficult race and I was not disappointed! We took a lot of risks with the strategy of stopping in the first laps. We then had to do a long stint with the same set of tires. When it started to rain heavily again, it was difficult to keep the car on the track. Sometimes I would aquaplane in a straight line when I was only in fourth or fifth grade,” explains Adrian. “I'm obviously disappointed to have come out so close to the finish, I thought I could do it? I had the same feeling as in Monaco last year. When I felt like I was losing control of the car, I had a hard time realizing that I wouldn't be able to complete this great performance. I think the team deserved these three points and I feel bad for everyone on the team. »

The flamboyant Doctor Vijay Mallya, however, does not hold this error against his driver: “What a phenomenal race! We can be proud of Adrian and the entire team. He once again proved his talent in the rain, well served by a perfectly adapted strategy. It?s just a shame not to convert the test into points. »