How Force India's best ever start to a season could have been better

Force India marked their best ever start to a season this year with the Indian team scoring 32 points in the first 5 races of 2013. But if you go inside the season, you’ll find that the team could have had an even better start had it not been for some mistakes, bad luck and mechanical failures. Without these, Force India could have scored as many as 50 points by now. We pin point where exactly the team lost.

Malaysia – Double point finish turned into a double DNF

After a double point finish in Australia, Force India arrived happily in Malaysia hoping for a similar result in the Asian country. Both the drivers were comfortably in the top 10 during the three practice sessions and were hoping to make into Q3 in qualifying. But the rain arrived at the wrong time in qualifying, exposing the team’s weakness in the wet. Sutil and Di Resta could, thus, only qualify in 9th and 15th place. Their performance was also average when the race began in wet conditions, but as the track dried out, the team started looking strong again with Sutil in points and Di Resta running just outside of top 10. However, trouble struck the team again, this time during the pit stops when Force India endured a captive failure of their new wheel guns. Their pit stop time went past 30 seconds and Force India eventually retired both the cars from the race.

Estimated points loss – 6+

China – Teammates clash on the opening lap; Sutil unlucky to be hit by Gutierrez

Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta made contact on the opening lap of the Chinese Grand Prix when Adrian Sutil pushed his Scottish teammate Paul Di Resta off the track at the hairpin with the latter loosing 3-4 places in the process. A few laps later, Sutil’s race came to a halt when Esteban Gutierrez ran into the back of the German. Sutil crawled back to the pits but damage to his rear wing was way too much and he had to retire for a second consecutive race.

Estimated points loss – 1+

Bahrain – Sutil unlucky in the desert

Adrian Sutil’s streak of bad luck continued in Bahrain when Felipe Massa made contact with the German on lap 1. The collision resulted in a puncture for the German driver who then had to play catch up for rest of the race. Force India had looked very strong in Bahrain that weekend with their drivers qualifying in 5th and 6th place. In the race too, Force India looked strong and that was evident from Di Resta’s performance who finished just outside the podium in 4th place. Without the first lap collision, Sutil could have finished in at least 5th place.

Estimated points loss – 10

Spain – Sutil unlucky again, this time in the pits

While Di Resta had a decent result in Spain in form of a seventh place finish, Sutil failed to join his teammate during the first European season of the season after a big delay in his pit stops. The delay was caused when his right rear wheel crossed threaded during his pit stop. It was another big blow for the German who had jumped from 13th to 8th in the first few laps of the race.

Estimated points loss – 4+