New Delhi: Pirelli faced serious criticism after the tyre blowouts at British Grand Prix last Sunday but one Formula 1 team which is not complaining is Sahara Force India. Tyres have been a regular subject of debate this season and their scrutiny has intensified with four drivers -- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) and Sergio Perez (McLaren) -- bearing the brunt of rear tyre explosions at the Silverstone Circuit.
The incidents fuelled talks of a potential boycott by the drivers going into the German Grand Prix this weekend. Force India, however, is not losing sleep over how the tyres would perform at Nurburgring, according to their driver Adrian Sutil.
"A lot of teams expressed their concerns post the race at Silverstone and I am sure Pirelli will do something to fix the issue. Having said that, we did not experience any problem and hope for the same in the coming race," Sutil told IANS from Nurburgring Thursday. The German finished seventh in the race after starting from sixth on the grid while teammate Paul di Resta staged a remarkable recovery to come home ninth from the back of the grid.
"It was a decent result for us. The last safety car came when I was running third and that did not help. But overall we did well on a two-stop strategy," said the 30-year-old. Sutil said it was not right to blame tyre manufacturer Pirelli without knowing the cause of the blowouts. Pirelli had earlier said that wrong usage of tyres and insufficient pressure contributed to the incidents.
The Italian company is introducing a new range of tyres this weekend, having a kevlar belt in place of the steel belt used earlier. Asked about his chances in Germany, Sutil said: "It is a home race for me and I want to finish in top six which is my goal anyway. The last time I was here (in 2011), I came sixth. So hope I can do better this time." Force India are fifth in the constructors' standings with 59 points, ahead of McLaren, who are on 37.
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