Team orders need to be respected, say Force India drivers

Shanghai - Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta are fine with team orders in Formula 1.

Their comments come after Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders and overtook teammate Mark Webber to win the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 24. The incident resulted in a big controversy with some raising questions on Vettel’s act of defiance.

“Teams have their own policies about instructing their drivers. There is no denying that we (drivers) want to win every race and teams want to earn maximum points. If a situation like that comes up, I feel both parties need to have a clear chat about it,” Sutil told IANS ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix here this weekend.

Di Resta too acknowledges that team orders are a reality in F1 and it needs to be respected.

“Drivers are not bigger than the team. The orders will work for you sometimes and other times they could go against you. You have to respect that,” said di Resta.

Talking about the coming weekend, both of them are confident of the team bouncing back from the disappointment of Malaysia, where wheel nut problem force them to retire.

“What happened in Malaysia was obviously not ideal. But now the procedure is in place for a trouble-free weekend. It was a great start in Melbourne and points in Malaysia would have been a double bonus for us,” said di Resta.

Force India are fifth in the team standings, ahead of McLaren and Sauber.

The Scot said Force India need to make the most of McLaren’s slow start.

“It would be silly to think that a team like McLaren will not move up the grid soon. We need to gain from their slow start before they fight back.”

Sutil was also confident of a good result in China.

“We have been really quick so far but we can still improve. That way, Malaysia was a bit of a shame. I am expecting a good result from the next two races,” said the German.