Zoom A brake issue forced Sutil off track at Silverstone

Adrian Sutil today rounded off Force India's pre-British Grand Prix test at the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.

Sutil continued the team's programme of testing the complete new aero and mechanical package that will be introduced in next week's race, including the new 'shark fin' engine cover, wheel covers, bargeboards, diffuser and inerter damper.

Sutil covered 71 laps over the day, recording a best lap of 1:21.331 - seventh fastest - despite the increasingly windy conditions.

However, a brake disc failure just before the lunch time break led to an excursion into the gravel trap at turn 11, however the car was back out again for further running in the afternoon.

Adrian Sutil
"I think it was a useful day. We did some good running and could do a lot of testing with the inerter damper, which was the main target of the day. It will take a little while to feel completely happy with it, but I definitely think there is potential there, we just need to understand how to get the most out of it as all day we had some problems with understeer that we just couldn't seem to get rid of. Aero-wise, I think we did a good step, the engine cover seems to work well and also the front wing. We've got more downforce now, so we need to put it all together, both mechanically and aerodynamically, and I think we will have a step forward for Silverstone next week."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer
"A fairly productive final day of testing with Adrian. We again had a useful morning that confirmed some of the gains from the previous days' running. Unfortunately we had a brake disc failure that caused some down time in the garage, but overall we were able to get through our programme and evaluate the new parts, which seem to be working well. We can now look forward to the Grand Prix next weekend."

E.A. © CAPSIS International