Q&A with Adrian Sutil after Yeongam

Adrian Sutil had an eventful race for Force India in Korea, making a huge number of passing moves but also going off track several times as he struggled with his brakes. Unfortunately he had to retire after contact with Kamui Kobayashi, and that incident subsequently landed him a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Brazil. Nevertheless Adrian enjoyed his race in Korea and was happy with the overall performance of the car in the wet. We asked him about for his thoughts on the weekend.

Q: Overall, did you enjoy the Yeongam circuit?

“Yes, it’s a great circuit. It was nice to drive, and I enjoyed it. In the wet we were quite strong, we had a good car. You could see that from our performance, especially with Tonio.”

Q: How bad were conditions behind the safety car at the restart?

“It was OK, it was not so bad. I think they waited until the right time, before we started to race. For sure there was a little bit of spray, and it was difficult to see. After a few laps it went better and better, and after 10 laps already there was a more dry line coming through. And then we changed to standard wets [intermediates], kept them on the whole race, and it was good to drive.”

Q: You were among the first to change tyres. Was that a gamble?

“Yes, it was a bit of a gamble. I saw a drier line – it was not dry, but there was no standing water. And I thought especially in the high speed corners it would probably be better on an intermediate tyre. It was a little bit better, but warm-up was difficult. I lost out on my first lap, compared to the extreme wets of the other cars, so probably two laps later would have been the right time. But I risked it. You have to risk to win in the end, but it didn’t work out so well! And then it was just up and down.”

Q: You had quite an eventful race with several off track excursions! Why were you struggling to stay on the road?

“It was not because I was driving especially aggressively. It was just very hard to brake with the car and it just seemed to lock up everywhere. So I was not confident with the brakes. Sometimes I tried to brake later, like I am used to. It’s my strong side in a race. One lap it worked, next one I locked the front, sometimes the rear, I just didn’t know what to expect. That’s why I why I was always getting in front of people, then I lost it again. It was fun, but in the end you get a bit frustrated at always passing the same guys again!”

Q: What happened when you touched with Kobayashi?

“I tried inside Kobayashi, and I lost the car on the brakes again, on the wetter side of the circuit. It was a shame. I damaged my front suspension. He could go on. He has a strong car, as we’ve seen in a few races already! So at least he could finish. It was my mistake.”

Q: Any thoughts on the next race in Interlagos?

“It’s a cool circuit, and hopefully it will suit us. Points are the clear goal. You can overtake there – it’s not easy, but you can. There’s a long straight, and you can try it. I was out on the first lap last year, but I’ve finished in the past, so it’s not an unlucky circuit for me!”