Is there a team in F1 in 2013 with more cause to be disappointed with their lot than Force India? It all feels so different now to the optimism of Adrian Sutil leading, and performing extremely well, in Melbourne. They did look at the start of the season to be becoming the 2013 version of McLaren, with pit errors and a scarcely believable double pit catastrophe leaving them short of points. Di Resta was picking up points. Then came Britain.
Force India saw their advantage of swapping the tyres around - allegedly their idea - completely destroyed by Pirelli's insistence on using the tyres as they were designed to be used after disobedience of such a policy lead to Pirelli copping even worse than usual headlines in the aftermath of the tyres popping left, right and centre at Silverstone. It was probably to be predicted that McLaren would get its act together in this context and overhaul Force India. The problem is, performance wise, they're not the only ones!
The Q3 apperances started to dry up. McLaren started getting past them on a more consistent basis, while Ricciardo and Hulkenburg also started to become frequent flyers in the Q3 game. But it was not only Q3 appearences drying up, the liklihood of a Q1 elimination was growing too! For the last couple of races, the only time a Force India seems to be on TV is when Di Resta is walking out of it on the side of the road. Sutil has been completely anonymous, aside from his attempts to block Lewis Hamilton at any given opportunity.
But it has to be said that the performance drop offs could have been, to a certain extent, predicted. What Force India's main failing has been this season is more of an inability to make hey while the sun shone. McLaren's performance since Silverstone has scarcely been of the caliber to have eaten away quite as quickly at the lead Force India should have built, even if having a driver of true class in Jenson Button has been a significant advantage for the Chrome Arrows.
Springing to mind are the unnecessary DNFs, the strategy calls married with poor driving that saw Di Resta eliminated from Q1 sessions when the car was at its most competitive, the understandable but still moronic determination of Sutil to avenge his conviction upon the former friend who refused to testify for him. But even with all that, we're left with the question - what would Nico Hulkenburg done in this car?
Force India saw their advantage of swapping the tyres around - allegedly their idea - completely destroyed by Pirelli's insistence on using the tyres as they were designed to be used after disobedience of such a policy lead to Pirelli copping even worse than usual headlines in the aftermath of the tyres popping left, right and centre at Silverstone. It was probably to be predicted that McLaren would get its act together in this context and overhaul Force India. The problem is, performance wise, they're not the only ones!
The Q3 apperances started to dry up. McLaren started getting past them on a more consistent basis, while Ricciardo and Hulkenburg also started to become frequent flyers in the Q3 game. But it was not only Q3 appearences drying up, the liklihood of a Q1 elimination was growing too! For the last couple of races, the only time a Force India seems to be on TV is when Di Resta is walking out of it on the side of the road. Sutil has been completely anonymous, aside from his attempts to block Lewis Hamilton at any given opportunity.
But it has to be said that the performance drop offs could have been, to a certain extent, predicted. What Force India's main failing has been this season is more of an inability to make hey while the sun shone. McLaren's performance since Silverstone has scarcely been of the caliber to have eaten away quite as quickly at the lead Force India should have built, even if having a driver of true class in Jenson Button has been a significant advantage for the Chrome Arrows.
Springing to mind are the unnecessary DNFs, the strategy calls married with poor driving that saw Di Resta eliminated from Q1 sessions when the car was at its most competitive, the understandable but still moronic determination of Sutil to avenge his conviction upon the former friend who refused to testify for him. But even with all that, we're left with the question - what would Nico Hulkenburg done in this car?