When asked ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in March as to what his expectations were from the season,Force India driver Adrian Sutil had said: We want to shed the back-markers tag. The German wasnt being just cautiously optimistic; a hint of embarrassment was also evident in the statement. He had had 11 retirements to his name out of 18 races in 2008 - a season in which his friend and former Formula BMW competitor Lewis Hamilton was crowned F1 world champion. At the season-ending race at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi on Sunday,Sutil finished 17th - second last among those who completed the race - but it didnt matter. Sutil knew he,as well as the team,had proved a point and scored a few. Not only were they consistent in qualifying,they finished with a total of 13 points,with one podium,one pole position and one fastest lap to their name. It has been a very good season,naturally with a lot of ups and downs,but weve gone massively forward from the beginning of the season to the end. I think we can be very proud of this progress, said Sutil on Sunday,and it was difficult to disagree. Force Indias disappointing debut not only had critics doubting the teams ability,but also questioning if the acquisition worth 88 million euros by Vijay Mallya was a wise investment. But it was soon clear that he attached a lot of importance to results. As with the IPL team Bangalore Royal Challengers,who saw the CEO sacked in the middle of a poor 2008,Mallya made more than just cosmetic changes to the F1 team. Team managing director Colin Kolles was eased out and the Ferrari-powered VJM01 paved way to a new,reliable engine,which had McLaren-Merecedes technology under the hood. As part of the deal,they also roped in Simon Roberts as COO from the 2008 champions. The results were there to be seen. Sutil just missed out on points,finishing 9th in Melbourne,while Giancarlo Fisichella ended a creditable 11th. Four weeks later,in Shanghai,Sutil almost gave the team their first points,running sixth with as many laps to go before crashing out. It was disappointing, Sutil had said later. But were at the back of the field right now,and weve to take our chances,like we did here,and try to move on. Breaking the jinx However,it was Fisichella who finally broke the jinx. The Italian had been consistent,finishing in the middle of the grid,when in Belgium he suddenly broke free. After making Q3,he gave the team their first pole,and the next day their first podium finish second ending a drought of points that lasted 29 races. He soon left for Ferrari to fill in for an injured Filipe Massa,but it didnt turn out to be the setback it was expected to. In the very next race,Sutil finally made it to the points,finishing second on the starting grid and fourth at the race. Mallya summed it up on Sunday: We have achieved our objectives and then some more. We can only build on this over the winter into 2010.
