Adrian Sutil’s seventh place finish brought Force India back among the points again but Hispania driver Karun Chandhok’s hopes of a third successive finish were dashed after a tangle with Toro Rosso’s Jamie Alguersuari in the Spanish Grand Prix here on Sunday.
Sutil drove an immaculate race, jumping from his 11th place in the starting grid to the eighth, which he defended with all his might and guile to stave off the consistent challenge from Renault’s Robert Kubica.
Towards the fag end, Sutil benefited from pal and McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton’s tyre failure to bring home six valuable points for the Vijay Mallya-owned outfit, which occupies the sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship with 24 points in kitty.
Sutil’s teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi came 15th in the race won by Mark Webber, who outshone teammate Sebastian Vettel to prove that Red Bull was not a one-car outfit.
Karun’s was an eventful race as he first got into a collision with Felipe Massa in lap 25, which cost the Ferrari driver his front wing.
In lap 29, Alguersuari drove across the nose of Karun’s car, which eventually invited a drive through penalty. That, however, was hardly a solace for Karun who pulled up his car after 31 laps.
“What Jaime Alguersuari did was just uncalled for. I let him pass. The corner goes right and he goes left,” a dejected Karun later said.
