Sebastian Vettel recorded his third win at Suzuka with a perfect lights-to-flag drive at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver is now only four points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso, who was forced to retire after spinning on the opening lap.
Felipe Massa came through from tenth on the grid to finish in an excellent second for his first podium since the Korean Grand Prix back in 2010.
And yet, the home crowd were cheering for Kamui Kobayashi. The Sauber driver fending off Jenson Button for his maiden Formula One podium to take third, equalling the best ever finish for a Japanese driver.
By winning the Japanese Grand Prix, Vettel is within the striking distance to take the championship lead thanks to several likely challengers eliminated in a chaotic first lap.
The carnage began when Alonso’s Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus banged wheels on the run to the first corner. That caused a puncture to the Ferrari and left it spinning into the sand trap.
Kobayashi made a great start and placed his Sauber in between the Red Bulls off the line, although it got much worse for Mark Webber when Romain Grosjean slid into him at the second corner.
The Lotus driver picked up front wing damage and a 10-second stop/go penalty, while Webber was able to recover and needed a pit-stop for checks.
As the chain reaction unfolded behind, Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes was taken out in a clash with Bruno Senna’s Williams.
Once the safety car come in, Vettel was free to let loose. Setting fastest laps despite the team telling him to take it easy! The defending world champion had at one point a lead of over twenty seconds… A pure dominant performance and a great way to score his third victory of the season.
Kobayashi held second until the first pit-stops, when both he and the chasing Button were leapfrogged by Massa. Like Button, the Ferrari driver had gained a lot of ground in the first-corner chaos, and once ahead of the McLaren and Sauber, Felipe was quick enough to pull away.
Button tried his best while racing for track position against Kobayashi, but a slightly slow final pit-stop did not help and the local hero was able to keep last year’s Suzuka winner at bay.
Lewis Hamilton had a quiet start to the race before coming through to fifth. He fell victim to a superb dive-bomb pass from McLaren replacement Sergio Perez in the first stint – the Sauber having dropped behind in a failed outside-line bid to pass Raikkonen at the first corner.
Hamilton then got back ahead of the Mexican at the first pit-stops, and as Perez tried to overtake, this time around the outside at the hairpin, the Sauber ran wide and spun into retirement.
The McLaren then jumped Raikkonen for fifth at the second stops – emerging alongside the Lotus and muscling it aside at the second turn despite Raikkonen seeming to have the momentum.
Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India chased Raikkonen home in seventh, holding off Pastor Maldonado’s Williams.
Webber recovered to ninth, pitting just once more after his lap-one stop.
Daniel Ricciardo made it two Australians in the points. The Toro Rosso driver resisted pressure from Michael Schumacher to the finish, preventing Mercedes from scoring at Suzuka.
The lap one mayhem gave Caterham an opportunity as Heikki Kovalainen emerged in P11. But Heikki was unable to stay ahead of the recovering frontrunners though.
With a non-finish for Fernando Alonso at Suzuka and an important win for Sebastian Vettel – his 24th in the sport, equalling Juan Manuel Fangio’s record – the championship is now becoming a tense and dramatic affair. Only four points separate the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers with five races left.
Japanese Grand Prix, after 53 laps:
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h28:56.242
2. Massa Ferrari +20.639
3. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari +24.538
4. Button McLaren-Mercedes +25.098
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +46.490
6. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault +50.424
7. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +51.159
8. Maldonado Williams-Renault +52.364
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault +54.675
10. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1:06.919
11. Schumacher Mercedes +1:07.769
12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes +1:23.400
13. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1:28.600
14. Senna Williams-Renault +1:28.700
15. Grosjean Lotus-Renault +1 lap
16. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault +1 lap
17. Glock Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Petrov Caterham-Renault +1 lap
19. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth +1 lap
Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:35.774
Not classified/retirements:
Pic Marussia-Cosworth 39 laps
Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 34 laps
Perez Sauber-Ferrari 19 laps
Alonso Ferrari 1 lap
Rosberg Mercedes 1 lap
World Championship standings, round 15:
Drivers:
1. Alonso 194
2. Vettel 190
3. Raikkonen 157
4. Hamilton 152
5. Webber 135
6. Button 131
7. Rosberg 93
8. Grosjean 82
9. Massa 69
10. Perez 65
11. Kobayashi 50
12. Di Resta 44
13. Schumacher 43
14. Hulkenberg 37
15. Maldonado 33
16. Senna 25
17. Vergne 8
18. Ricciardo 7
Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault 325
2. McLaren-Mercedes 283
3. Ferrari 263
4. Lotus-Renault 239
5. Mercedes 136
6. Sauber-Ferrari 115
7. Force India-Mercedes 81
8. Williams-Renault 58
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 15
Next race: Korean Grand Prix, Yeongam. October 12-14.
After scoring his third victory at Suzuka, Sebastian Vettel is staying cautious about the Formula One title despite being four points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso. Autosport.com has the story.
Sebastian Vettel insists there is still a long way to go in the 2012 Formula 1 championship despite decimating Fernando Alonso’s advantage with a commanding win in the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver, who secured his fourth consecutive pole position at Suzuka on Saturday, led the race from start to finish to take his third victory at the Japanese circuit.
Championship rival Alonso retired from the race on the opening lap after making contact with Kimi Raikkonen.
Alonso’s retirement means Vettel is now just four points behind with five races to go, and with a car that looks much more competitive than the Ferrari.
“Obviously it was an important step today but there’s still a long way to go,” said Vettel, the first man to score back-to-back victories this year.
“If you look at the last couple of races, after Spa it was very much up and down.
“I don’t know what happened today, but at Spa Fernando was unlucky. You don’t hope those things will happen to yourself but you know over the next few races it could happen. It is long season and crazy racing so far.”
He added: “I am very careful. I think we had a long journey so far. It has been a tough year and there are still many races to go. Today I don’t want to talk about the championship.”
Vettel, who scored his third win of the season, said the weekend had been like a dream for him.
“I don’t think it could be better,” he added. “You come across these kinds of races very rarely.
“I had a very good race car, behaving very well, and it’s very difficult to describe why because we didn’t have major upgrades for this race. It’s just that the car suited the track.
“It was a fantastic race and when you have a dream about how a race should be, that is exactly what you wish for. All in all it was fantastic.”
Team-mate Mark Webber finished in ninth position after being sent into a spin by Romain Grosjean at the start.
After 36 races, Felipe Massa has finally finish on the podium. By taking second position at Suzuka, the Brazilian’s future at Ferrari looks good. Autosport.com has the details.
Felipe Massa believes his first podium of the season will help him secure a new contract with Ferrari team for the 2013 season.
The Brazilian wound up in second place at Suzuka to secure his first top-three finish since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver, whose future is still uncertain, said it was a relief to put an end to his podium-less run.
“I think so,” said Massa when asked if the result will help his future.
“It is nice. It is like a relief. It was great. It was a great race anyway. I was able to push hard from the beginning to the end and show that we are here to fight for victory and the podium and not just points.”
Massa, starting from 10th position, benefited from the drama at the first corner, where team-mate Fernando Alonso was eliminated and other cars in front hit trouble.
The Brazilian is now hopeful Sunday’s podium is the start of a new era for him.
“I think I was very happy with the car all weekend and it’s very nice to be on the podium again after a little bit of time,” he said.
“Hopefully it is the beginning of many podiums in front.”
Massa said was he sorry for Alonso, who saw a 29-point lead reduced to just four after his early exit.
“Nothing is finished for Fernando and he did many, many good races until now.
“What happened today was not nice for him but these things happen in a championship and it is important we push hard and concentrate on the next race to stay in front for the championship.”
And yet, the home crowd were so happy to have Kamui Kobayashi finishing third at Suzuka. Autosport.com has the news story.
Kamui Kobayashi was always confident he could finish on the Japanese Grand Prix podium once he had got through the start unscathed and still in the lead group.
The Japanese driver has seen other potentially good races go awry on lap one this year – particularly in Belgium, where he qualified second but got away slowly and was caught up in the first-lap mayhem.
With his Sauber team-mate Sergio Perez delivering three podium finishes already in 2013, Kobayashi was under pressure to deliver. While Perez has sealed a McLaren drive for 2013, Kobayashi’s future in the sport is currently uncertain.
But on home ground at Suzuka, Kobayashi started third, ran second in the first stint, and then after losing out to Felipe Massa’s Ferrari in the first pitstops, he was able to resist Jenson Button’s McLaren to the flag.
“It was a fantastic race,” said the ecstatic Kobayashi.
“We were really working hard to get a podium and my team-mate has a couple of podiums already.
“I had a couple of chances in qualifying with good grid positions – but I never had luck. I’ve struggled on starts – many starts – but this time I think it was good to start in third. It was not a front row but the feeling was good because we had a long run on Friday and that was pretty good pace.
“I was confident through the week so when I gained position after the start I was pretty sure I could be on the podium.
“Then at some point we struggled a lot to hold Jenson off. The last stint was very tough.”
Kobayashi’s result equalled the best ever finish for Japanese drivers in Formula 1 – achieved by Aguri Suzuki at Suzuka in 1990 and Takuma Sato at Indianapolis in 2004.
It was received with huge enthusiasm by the Japanese crowd.
“I think finally finishing in points is fantastic, especially in front of my home grand prix,” said Kobayashi.
“This is my first podium and it’s amazing. I am happy for the fans and so many people supporting me.
“When you look around circuit, it is amazing. So thank you to the fans and we need to keep going for the future.”
Mark Webber branded Romain Grosjean as the “first-lap nutcase” and his behaviour as ’embarrassing’ after a collision caused by the Frenchman on the first lap of the Japanese Grand Prix cost the Red Bull driver a chance of a podium.
Grosjean hit third-placed Webber into Turn 2 and spun the Australian round, necessitating a pitstop for Webber, who rejoined at the back of the field.
The race stewards gave Grosjean a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for the incident.
Afterwards a livid Webber suggested to Sky television that the Frenchman might benefit from another enforced period on the sidelines, following his one-race ban at Monza after causing a first-corner accident in Belgium.
“I haven’t obviously seen what happened at the start but the guys confirmed that it was the first-lap nutcase again Grosjean,” he said.
“The rest of us are trying to fight for some decent results each weekend but he is trying to get to the third corner as fast as he can at every race.
“It makes it frustrating because a few big guys probably suffered from that and maybe he needs another holiday.
“He needs to have a look at himself, it was completely his fault. How many mistakes can you make, how many times can you make the same error? First-lap incidents… yeah… it’s quite embarrassing at this level for him.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added that Grosjean’s Lotus team might have to consider how to deal with the recurring first-corner incidents.
“I think the most concerning thing is when it is repeat incidents,” he said. “If you make mistakes that’s fine, but the key thing is to learn from them.
“He’s hosing away points for his team, they are fighting in the constructors’ championship and I would be surprised if they were too impressed by that. Seven incidents this year is more than enough, Mark was a victim of the action today and that cost him at least a podium.”
Grosjean for his part admitted that the incident was a “stupid crash”.
“I was trying to avoid making any contact, but it didn’t work,” he added.
Webber recovered to finish ninth after a strong drive through the field.
“We were on a one-stop strategy which is not exactly stimulating around here,” he said. “We got something from it, I kept pushing, I didn’t give up.
“To finish eight seconds behind fifth place considering I was reversing away from the fence [on lap one], and the safety car was in before I got back on to the back of the group. We ticked all of the worst boxes again and maybe I need to have a few whiskeys and get some luck that way.
“But I will come back in Korea and just keep doing what I am doing.”
Source: Autosport.com
With a non-finish for Fernando Alonso, the Ferrari driver admits the final five races will become like a mini world championship. Autosport.com has the details.
The remaining five races of the season will be like mini world championship according to Fernando Alonso, who saw his world championship points lead all but wiped out in Suzuka.
The Ferrari driver spun out of the Japanese Grand Prix at the first corner after making contact with Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus, while his chief rival in the standings Sebastian Vettel took a dominant victory.
Alonso is now just four points ahead of Vettel, who became the first driver to deliver back-to-back victories in 2012 and has momentum behind him.
But the Spaniard maintains that nothing has changed for him in his approach to the championship, and that his world title ambitions remain firmly intact.
“I think one time I will retire, maybe next time Vettel will retire, you never know, that’s motorsport,” said Alonso. “It’s five races to go, it will be like a mini championship, because we start with the same points and we need to score one more point [than him] in five races. So we will try to do it.”
Alonso was critical of Raikkonen, whose front wing appeared to cut the Spaniard’s left-rear tyre as the Lotus edged up the outside of the Ferrari into the braking zone.
“I had no space on the right, I had Button I think on my left, I had Kimi… and I don’t understand why Kimi didn’t lift off or anything because there was not any room,” Alonso said of the first corner fracas.
“I don’t know what Kimi’s idea was for the first corner, but that is the way it is and this time it was bad luck for us.”
The two-time champion has seen his lead shrink in the last few races after having been in the lead of the championship since the European Grand Prix.
Alonso, who said his team had not introduced any updates in the last six races, saw team-mate Felipe Massa finish in second position in the race, but the Spaniard admitted it was just thanks to the circumstances that his team can achieve a result like that given its current pace.
“Well, it’s a bit because of the coincidences in the race that Felipe is second,” he said. “Yesterday we qualified sixth and eleventh. We have had the same car for six races, without adding any new bits, and it’s a bit thanks to the circumstances…
“Felipe did a perfect race, driving well, but there are cars which are a lot faster making a mistake after another and that has helped Felipe.”
Jenson Button hopes Red Bull’s commanding Japanese Grand Prix performance will be a one-off – but fears it might not.
Sebastian Vettel led by as much as 20 seconds at Suzuka as he stormed to his third victory at the venue in four Formula 1 starts.
Button was able to convert his eighth place on the grid to a fourth-place finish, one spot ahead of his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
But Button could not get past Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber for third, and lost out to Felipe Massa’s Ferrari at the first pitstops.
“Red Bull was very strong and we weren’t on their pace today,” Button admitted.
“We were very similar to the Saubers and the Ferraris. The Ferrari was probably a little bit quicker. We’ll see what happens when we get to Korea.”
Asked if he had expected Red Bull to be so dominant, Button replied: “I think they’re a little bit quicker than what we thought, but they’re always quick here.
“Last year, you’d say they weren’t as quick as normal, and that’s the reason we could fight for the win. But this is, for some reason, always a very good Red Bull circuit.
“We’ve got to hope that this is a stand-out race for them but I’d be surprised.
“They’re going very well and they’re doing a good job. Getting both cars on the front row proved that.”
Button spent the second half of the race striving to get past home hero Kobayashi for third but could not make it through.
“I think he actually controlled that set of tyres pretty well,” said Button of Kobayashi.
“The second set, he didn’t, and he destroyed them after just a few laps, so that’s why I was able to get close.
“I got close a few times but the problem was the only way I could get DRS was to brake so late for the chicane and every time I tried I locked up and ran wide.”
Source: Autosport.com
Sauber driver Sergio Perez has blamed himself for spinning out of race whilst racing with Lewis Hamilton. Autosport.com has the details.
Sergio Perez blamed himself for spinning out of the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Sauber driver was running right behind Lewis Hamilton – the man he will replace at McLaren next year – when he lost lost control of his car when trying to avoid hitting the Briton when braking for the hairpin.
Perez spun out and was unable to rejoin.
“I feel very sorry for the team,” said Perez. “It worked well when I got passed Lewis Hamilton for the first time on lap six, but then it didn’t when I tried it again.
“Lewis went quite late to the inside and I had only room on the outside. But it certainly was my mistake.”
Sauber team-mate Kamui Kobayashi finished the race in third position, the first podium of his career in Formula 1.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber was clearly not impressed by Romain Grosjean on the first lap with the Australian calling him a “first-lap nutcase”. As for Grosjean, the Lotus driver wants to move on from the shunt. Autosport.com has the story.
Romain Grosjean says he is moving on from his accident with Mark Webber, after which the Australian labelled the Frenchman a “first-lap nutcase”.
Webber was livid after Grosjean sent him into a spin at the start of the race, an incident for which the Lotus driver was given a ten-second stop-and-go penalty.
Grosjean has been involved in several first lap accidents this year, and was given a one-race ban after he caused a spectacular first-corner shunt in Belgium.
The Lotus driver insisted he has been trying to be extra cautious since his return from the ban.
“Ever since I came back in Singapore my priority has been to be very cautious at the start, and I was watching Sergio [Perez] on my left to make sure there was no contact with him,” said Grosjean.
“There was quite a big speed difference between me and Mark [Webber] as I came into the first corner which caught me by surprise and we collided. It was a stupid mistake.
“Mark came to see me after the race and was obviously not happy, but I apologised and we have to move on. We’ll sit down and look at things again before the next race to see what we can do to improve these situations.”
Grosjean finished the race in 15th position while Webber recovered to eighth.
Chronic understeer that mysteriously cured itself mid-race put paid to any hopes Lewis Hamilton had of fighting for a top spot in the Japanese Grand Prix.
With the championship leader Fernando Alonso driver spinning on the first corner of the race at Suzuka, it was a chance for his rivals to close the gap in the points, but while race-winner Sebastian Vettel did just that, Hamilton could manage no better than a distant fifth place.
“It wasn’t so bad,” he said. “I pushed as hard as I could through the whole race and it just wasn’t the weekend for me, but I still got some points.
“Very, very unusual thing happened which I have never ever experienced before. The car was understeering like it was in qualifying, which it shouldn’t have been doing, and then again it was understeering on my formation lap. So I thought it’s going to be tough today.
“I struggled for the first 20 off laps, I don’t know if it was before the first stop or after, and through Turn 14 I felt this thud on the rear and all of a sudden the car starting turning fantastically.
“So I was able to push and overtake guys, but it was bit late.”
That allowed Hamilton to engage in a close quarters battle for fifth with Kimi Raikkonen into Turn 1 as he exited the pits from his early final stop.
“We had a bit of a battle,” he said. “We have got lots of history me and Kimi so I felt he was good through the first corner. You know he is very, very fair.
“A fantastic driver so I am glad I had a fight with him.
“The tyres weren’t going off I was still fine,” he added. “That lap that I came in the last time, when I was racing with Kimi, I said to the team ‘my tyres are fine, I want to continue,’ but they wanted to bring me in.
“It was obviously the right call though, we had a good battle with Kimi in the first corner. The guys did a fantastic job in the pitstops, just a little bit strange car behaviour this weekend.”
Source: Autosport.com
Regarding that racing moment with Sergio Perez at the hairpin, in which the Sauber tried to make a move around the outside but slide off into retirement, Lewis Hamilton opted not to contest according to the report by Autosport.com.
Lewis Hamilton did not fight his McLaren replacement Sergio Perez for position early in the Japanese Grand Prix, when the Mexican audaciously passed the McLaren at the hairpin, because the Briton was thinking of his championship challenge.
Hamilton reckoned that he knew that Perez would try something ‘crazy’ as the pair fought over sixth position on lap five, and opted not to contest the move.
Perez then spun at same place 13 laps later as he tried to pass Hamilton again, post pitstops, around the outside.
“I saw him coming and I have a championship to fight for and he doesn’t so…” said Hamilton, who eventually finished fifth.
“I thought that he was going to do a crazy manoeuvre, which he did.
“Then [later] when he was behind me I saw it coming again so I moved a little to the inside, thinking that he was going to go up the inside so he couldn’t get by, and he just flew down the outside of me. So very interesting…”
Perez admitted that the spin was his own fault, having had no option but to go down the outside of Hamilton.
Williams driver Pastor Maldonado ‘never lost’ faith as he ends point-less run at the Japanese Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the details.
Pastor Maldonado says he never lost faith in himself or his Williams team after finally returning to the points in the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Venezuelan famously scored his maiden Formula 1 victory in the Spanish Grand Prix in May, but then went eight races without scoring a single point.
On Sunday, Maldonado ended his point-less run with an eighth-place finish.
“Since Barcelona we had a couple of mistakes, but not all was from my side. We had some problems with the car and lost quite a lot of points,” said Maldonado after the Suzuka race.
“But the combination of many things was the cause of that, but we have always been optimistic and competitive.
“I never lost the confidence in myself and in the team. The potential is so good, and we showed our consistency in qualifying. The car is there. Maybe it’s not the best car but we have good pace, especially in the race.
“I’ve had bad times during the season, but now everything is back to normal, which is good for the team and for myself.”
The Williams driver is still not ruling out winning another race this season, especially after fighting for a podium place in the last race in Singapore.
“Everything is possible. Why not? We were so close to being on the podium in the last race. Maybe the victory was not there, but the podium was possible,” he added.
“But we had a problem. It could happen. We must stay together as a team when you have this kind of problems. We can’t lose the confidence in ourselves. I feel really confident.”
Maldonado reckons there is no reason why Williams cannot be strong in the Korean Grand Prix next week, although he is hoping he can make it into Q3 after failing to do so in Japan.
“I hope to be better, especially in qualifying,” he said. “The most important for us is to jump into Q3 and then in there I’m very strong as usual. And if we continue to have the pace we had here we will be very competitive.”
Nico Hulkenberg labelled his seventh-place finish in the Japanese Grand Prix as a well-deserved and unexpected result following his penalty.
The German driver qualified in tenth position on Saturday but dropped down to 15th after being forced to replace his car’s gearbox following a crash during final practice.
Hulkenberg admitted he did not expect to secure such a strong result after his Saturday problems.
“If you had told me before the race that we would finish seventh, I would have taken it straight away – so I’m very happy with today’s result,” said Hulkenberg.
“I made a great start, moving ahead of several cars and was able to keep out of the trouble in turn one. By the end of lap one I was already in eighth and as it turned out we had good pace.
“The car felt strong throughout the race: there was a nice balance and I was able to chase Lewis and Kimi hard and put pressure on them. They edged away towards the end and for the closing laps I just had to make sure I kept ahead of Maldonado.
“So another seventh place – a well-deserved result for the team after a tough weekend for the mechanics and six important points for the championship.”
Source: Autosport.com
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen has admitted that contact with championship leader Fernando Alonso at the first corner was unavoidable. Autosport.com has the news story.
Contact with Fernando Alonso was unavoidable at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix, reckoned Kimi Raikkonen, who claimed he was left with no room to manouvre by the world championship leader.
The Finn touched Alonso’s left rear wheel as the Spaniard braked for the first corner.
The Ferrari driver suffered a puncture that sent him into a spin and out of the race.
Alonso’s retirement meant the Spaniard is now just four points ahead of race winner Sebastian Vettel with five races to go.
“I was on the left hand side all the way since the very beginning of the start,” said Raikkonen. “He kept coming left more and more. I tried to go further left but I had nowhere to go.
“They all came over on my side and touched my front wing so I couldn’t go anywhere else.”
Raikkonen went on to finish in sixth position, and while he admitted the result was not great, he at least found consolation in having reduced the gap to Alonso in the standings.
The Finn is now 37 points behind.
“We lost some time there and our second pitstop wasn’t the best, so overall it was quite a difficult race,” he said. “The good thing is we still managed to score points to stay in touch in the championship.
“Sixth wasn’t the result we were hoping for but unfortunately we didn’t have the speed to do better today.”
As for Paul di Resta, the Force India driver had a clutch problem which affected his performance during the Japanese Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the details.
A clutch problem at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix cost Paul di Resta a chance of joining Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in the points at Suzuka.
The Scot, who started ahead of Hulkenberg on the grid in 11th, finished the race 12th, having dropped to 15th on the first lap.
The German meanwhile moved up from 15th to finish seventh in the race.
“Something broke in the clutch drive on the beginning of the parade lap, and we had a bit of warning that had happened, so we arrived on the grid not really knowing what it was going to do,” explained di Resta.
“Unfortunately going into the first corner as one of the last cars, I was a bit hesitant through all the crashes, but that was the right thing to do to keep it on the road.
“Really after that I was just stuck in traffic and I couldn’t get clear in the first stint and I think there you lose a lot of time.
“From there on we probably weren’t the quickest but we certainly if we had made more of an impact at the beginning, it probably would have seen us through the race and hopefully would have scored us points. A testing day.”
Force India dropped to 35 points behind sixth-placed Sauber in the constructors’ championship and di Resta called for the team to work on its reliability.
“Clearly, our reliability, we need to get our act together because it’s just cost a little bit of points today I think,” he said.