Sutil of Force India expects top 10 finish in Shanghai

Shanghai, April 15 (Xinhua) -- After his first point-finish of the year in Malaysia, an encouraging Adrian Sutil believes he can still earn scores in the Chinese Grand Prix to be hold in Shanghai this weekend.

Force India driver Sutil finished fifth and scored his first points of this season in the Malaysia GP two weeks ago, which gave the 27-year-old German lots of confidence.

"I don't think we should be concerned about our performance at the moment, we are strong and we can fight in the top 10, and that's very encouraging at this point of the year,"said Sutil of Force India F1 Team.

"The race in China will be a bit different but there are similarities to Malaysia as well. The circuit layout is different, of course, but you need a good top speed, which we have. And you need a little bit of downforce for the mid sector, for the slow corners so I think it should suit our car really well."

When asked about what would be possible in Shanghai, Sutil said,"I'm confident, definitely. It was encouraging in Malaysia, and also the last races in Bahrain and Australia. I think we can show a very similar performance in China."

"The temperatures will be a bit cooler, but there is a long straight and you need to be very fast on that, and that's what our car can do. It has also the downforce required for the slow speed corners. My feeling is that we can perform well again in Shanghai."

After ended the opening two races empty-handed, Sutil grabbed 10 points in Malaysia and his teammate, Vitantonio Liuzzi of Italy scored 2 and 6 points respectively in Bahrain and Australia, which took the team's season total so far to 18 points and sixth in the constructors' standings. Team principal Vijay Mallya was pleased with the drivers' performance.

"At the start of the season I said we wanted to be regular points finishers and here we are, three races in, with three point-finishes. It's very pleasing when you see just how far we've come in one year: after three races in 2009 we had no points and were tenth. The difference, I believe, has been keeping the focus on we wanted to do," said a determined Mallya.