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Double DNF for Force at Canada

Sutil leads Fisi
By Karl King June 10 2008
As the two BMWs recorded an historic 1-2 victory for the team in Canada on Sunday there was a stark contrast to be made to the disappointing performance of the two Force India cars which ended in the team recording a double DNF. The first came as early as lap 13 when Adrian Sutil developed a gearbox problem and brought out the safety car.

When the pit lane was opened the drama unfolded as Hamilton smashed straight into the back of Raikkonen who was waiting under red lights - one user on our message board referenced karma as being behind this after Raikkonen crashed into the back of Sutil at the last race in Monaco!

Sutil said, "Another disappointing day. This time the gearbox was a problem, 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 OK. 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."

The pit stops under the safety car allowed Fisichella to surface in eighth place but when he eventually pitted he stalled due to low fuel pressure which left him at the back of the field and eventually span after an hour and twelve minutes of wrestling his VJM01 around the circuit which had some surface problems.

"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", Fisi started. 

"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. We thought there would be a safety car just before my second stop, but it never came, but at the end I had some problems and had to stop anyway.

"It's quite disappointing."

Team boss Vijay Mallya was characteristically optimistic, though: "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.

"After his fine performance in Monaco, Adrian also had a good weekend here in Canada too as he kept pace with Giancarlo throughout. It was just a shame that we could not translate this performance into a result here today."

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