Adrian Sutil reckons the Force India F1 team has a 'big opportunity' in F1 2010 and that the Silverstone-based outfit can continue to improve and build on some of the potential shown last season.
Adrian Sutil has said that it is looking 'very, very promising' for
Force India as the team continues its preparations for F1 2010.
The
Force India F1 team really stepped up last season and the squad's performances in the second half of the year - particularly in Belgium, where
Giancarlo Fisichella almost won the race before finishing just behind
Kimi Raikkonen and the Italian Grand Prix, where Sutil finished fourth - were remarkable.
Sutil is now hopeful that momentum can be maintained, and while the new VJM03 won't be in action at the first test in Valencia, he remains upbeat and is looking forward to driving the 2010 car for the first time in
Jerez from February 10-13.
"It feels very good to be a competitive team in F1. The 2009 season was one of the most important seasons for us," Sutil told the official F1 website.
"We were able to make a name for ourselves in F1 with constantly good performances and a few huge surprises. Now it's important to continue our good work and try to be even more competitive in 2010.
"The whole team is hard at work developing the best car possible and it looks very, very promising right now.
"[But] for sure the new rules are a big challenge for everybody, so to make a clear statement about how good we have been in interpreting those new regulations we will have to wait until the first test in Jerez, where I will drive the VJM3 for the first time."
Sutil meanwhile also believes that the FIA's bid to cuts costs will be advantageous for Force India, which is use to working with a much smaller budget than the likes of
Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes.
"What probably was a shortfall in the past is now turning into a big advantage for us right now, as we are used to working within a small budget and with less people," he reasoned. "We can fully concentrate on our development, as we used to do over the last few years, without having to shift energy into various downgrades.
"Other teams need to learn - probably painfully - how to work efficiently with less people and a reduced budget. That could take a little while and so 2010 could be a big opportunity for us," he summed-up.
