13 July,2009 08:57 AM IST | | Agencies
Adrian Sutil was upbeat despite missing out on a points finish for the Force India team in yesterday's German GP.
The 26-year-old German, who started from seventh on the grid, also resisted the temptation to blame his final finish of 15th entirely on Kimi Raikkonen who collided with him in his Ferrari in the before the half way stage of the race.
Sutil started from seventh, his highest-ever grid slot, and had moved into second place, just 1.2secs behind the leader Rubens Barrichello by the time of his first pit stop on lap 27. Sadly while emerging from the pit he clashed with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen on the exit of the first corner, causing damage to his front wing endplate that forced a return to the pits for a nose change. Relegated to 17th Adrian nevertheless pushed hard to claw back to 15th overall.
Sutil later said: "It was a good race for me: the start was a bit difficult but I lost just one position. In the first stint I did really well and it was looking very promising as I was up to second by my first stop.
"When I went out of the pitlane, I saw Kimi coming on the outside of the corner and I just tried to hold my line but he went to the outside and I touched him and lost part of my front wing.u00a0 That's when I thought the race was over from the points aspect."
Raikkonen said: "I don't think it was anybody's fault. It was just a normal racing incident. Unfortunately, we touched, but I don't know what I can do, because I was on the outside and cannot see everything in this situation."
Sutil's Force India team-mate Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella finished 11th.
