After a difficult weekend we finished the Hungarian Grand Prix with Tonio Liuzzi in 13th position. Tonio finished three places up from his starting position but unfortunately could not move up any further on the notoriously difficult to overtake Hungaroring. Adrian Sutil did not finish the race after a frustrating pitlane accident. Adrian pitted under the safety car on lap 14 but was taken out by the Renault of Robert Kubica, which had been released from its own pit stop. Kubica piled into the side of Adrian, causing significant damage to the right rear of the VJM03. He retired on the spot.
We maintain our sixth position in the constructors’ championship going into the ‘summer break’ period before the Belgian Grand Prix.
Adrian Sutil (car 14, VJM03/03):
DNF
Tonio Liuzzi (car 15, VJM03/01):
13th
Adrian Sutil - car 14
Things were going pretty well to begin with – I made up two positions at the start and was running behind the Sauber of de la Rosa. I was actually quicker than him but just couldn’t find a way past as making an opportunity is very hard on this track. Then the safety car came out and I got called into the pits. I was driving into my area when suddenly the Renault came out in front of me. There wasn’t anything I could do, they released him into my path and I just crashed into him and my car was damaged too badly to continue. It was definitely unsafe from their part. A real shame it’s my first DNF since Australia and it’s even more disappointing as it for sure wasn’t our issue.
Tonio Liuzzi - car 15
A tough race, as starting from that far behind it’s difficult to make up positions, but we showed a good pace and were close to the points. We lost a piece of the front wing at the first corner, which caused a lot of understeer, and then I had to come in for a change eventually, which dropped me back behind the field. With the soft tyres we were fast but then lost a lot of time behind the Toro Rosso, who was actually struggling much more than me. Even so I just couldn’t find a way to overtake. I tried hard until the last lap but there was just no chance. It’s been a difficult weekend, missing out on the points, but we confirmed we are competitive and always have the potential to score points. We also have some tracks coming up that should suit us better and I hope that from Spa onwards we should show a much more positive trend.
