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Journalism of Courage
Force India maybe the newest kid on the Formula One block but the outfit has the potential to spring a surprise or two and Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix might witness the first, said chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne.
Gascoyne oozed confidence ahead of the most glitzy race on the F1 calendar and said the idea would be to bring home both the cars on Sunday. “I believe there will be some races where we will spring surprises and I think Monaco will be one of them. We just have to concentrate on doing our job and get two cars to the finish,” Gascoyne said.
One of the most high-profile race engineer in the F1 circuit, Gascoyne’s optimism stems from the new aero package and the vibes from both the drivers, who have recorded some impressing timing in Monaco in the past.
“Both our drivers love the circuit and have some good experience – Adrian (Sutil) was an F3 lap record holder round there and went quickest in one of the practices last year, plus Giancarlo (Fisichella) has been very quick there in the past,” Gascoyne said, adding that like most other teams, Force India would also have a new aero package designed specifically for this race.
“In Monaco, which has no real high speed parts on the track, you tend to run items that produce high levels of drag that you wouldn’t run on other tracks, simply because they are inefficient on long straights. That’s not the case in Monaco however, where you need as much grip as possible to get round the tight hairpins and corners.
“The new package includes updates to the wings, additional winglets and further modifications that will give more downforce. It has been tested in Paul Ricard last week, and gave some good results,” said the engineer.
According to Gascoyne, both Fisichella, who’d have his 200th F1 race start this weekend, and Sutil would have different motivation to do well here.
“For Giancarlo, it’s his 200th race and, at a circuit he very much likes, I am sure he will want to put in a good performance. Similarly that should be a spur to Adrian as now he is growing in confidence and needs to start showing that in terms of results. It was very important for him to get that race finish in Turkey: he has been gaining in confidence throughout the last events, understanding the tyres a bit more and getting more pace out of the car to match Giancarlo,” Gascoyne said.
Team principal Colin Kolles has a similar expectation from the drivers. “After a disappointing Turkish Grand Prix we should be in a position to be more competitive in Monaco and have both cars reaching the finish line. For Adrian and Giancarlo it’s one of their favourite circuits and I am expecting a good result,” Kolles said.
Chairman and Managing Director Vijay Mallya too expects the drivers to rise to the occasion. “As important as the glamour and panache is in Monaco, the greatest show there is the race and we are on stage and have to perform. This track should suit us better than Istanbul, but having acknowledged that, the objective of the team is to get up to a level where we can race competitively on any circuit,” he said.
