Force India with mixed 'pole' results

 September, 2012 (F1plus Team).- The Silverstone based team of Force India had another strong and not so qualifying session, this time, in Singapore. The team was consider to have a shot for a podium finish given the weekend's performance.

The Scotman, Paul Di Resta will start just behind Fernando Alonso from sixth, and he will certainly earn points unless something unexpected happens. It is hard to overtake at Marina Bay so good Qualifying results are paramount.

“I was very happy with the balance of the car yesterday, but struggled this afternoon during final practice and we seemed to lose our way,” di Resta explained about his early struggles.

“So we went back to basics and built up our speed again during qualifying and managed to deliver the lap time when it mattered during Q3 – in fact, it was my best lap of the weekend."

“So we’re in a strong position for tomorrow and hopefully we can come away with some big points. We looked quite competitive yesterday during long runs, so we will focus on the strategy tonight and make sure we make the right calls tomorrow with the tyres.” Di Resta added.

Contrastingly, Nico Hulkenberg seemed to be in better shape, but ended up with a 11th and hence was not able to make the cut for Q3. The German had lost brake and tyre temperatures when the team instructed him to slow down to let others to go through. A tactical/strategy error nevertheless.

“We had a car capable of reaching Q3 today, so I feel disappointed to miss out on the top ten. I just didn’t find a good rhythm in Q2 and my last lap was not good enough – I made a few small errors which cost me time and a place in Q3. Hulkenberg said.

Now I need to focus on making the most of tomorrow and doing what we can with the strategy. Starting eleventh means I get a free choice on tyres and we’ve seen already that tyre performance and degradation will be a big factor in the race. I need to get a clean start, get through the opening lap and see what I can do.” The German added.