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The Force India team suffered a disappointing qualifying session for the German Grand Prix as both the drivers will start from the second half of the grid in Sunday’s race.
Adrian Sutil, who is participating in his home grand prix, was handed a five-place grid penalty before the session began for a gearbox change. The German had suffered a driveshaft issue in the final practice session which resulted in the change of the component. Sutil managed to qualify in 14th position, but the penalty will drop him down to 19th.
"All the same it's only qualifying and there's a long race tomorrow where anything can happen.With a good strategy we can always go for a good result," Sutil said after the session.
His teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi was even more unfortunate as he spun his car early in Q1 coming out of the last corner and crashed into the wall. The Italian was unhurt in the shunt which was quite similar to what Timo Glock had suffered in the Toyota at the same circuit in 2008.
“I had had a good couple of laps but then I hit a wet patch on the kerb or on the grass that wasn't visible from the track and it then started the accident.,” Liuzzi of his spin.
“I lost the rear and was pushed out quite strongly across the track and into the wall. I wasn't hurt, but it's such a shame as we lost the qualifying and now have to start far down the grid,” Liuzzi pointed out blaming the crash on himself. Before the incident, the Force India driver had set a time that qualified him 22nd on the grid.