Sutil fails to finish in 100th GP, no points for Force India

Budapest: Adrian Sutil`s 100th Grand Prix ended in a big disappointment as he failed to finish the race even as Sahara Force India`s lead over McLaren was reduced to just four points after a no-points show at the Hungarian Grand Prix, here on Sunday.

Paul di Resta, who began 17th on the grid, finished 18th which meant that for the second time in a row Force India have not added any points to their kitty. In lap 19, Sutil`s car suffered a hydraulic leak and after making a contact with Felipe Massa in the next lap he went to pitlane and the team decided to retire the car. Jenson Button earned six points for McLaren with a seventh place finish to cut Force India`s lead over the British team to just four. Force India remain on 59 while McLaren moved to 55 from 49. It is third time in the season that Force India have not scored a point, earlier missing out in Malaysia and Germany. Their qualifying compromised, scoring points was a tough task for Sutil, who started 11th, and Di Resta. Lewis Hamilton finally claimed his first victory of the season, capitalising on his pole position for the first time. He had three pole positions earlier in the season but never converted those into wins. It was Hamilton`s first win for Mercedes after leaving McLaren. Lotus` Kimi Raikonnen pipped defending champion Sebastian Vettel in an intense battle to finish second ahead of the German in his Red Bull. Paul, who was classified 18th but did not finish the race, hoped they will comeback stronger in the second half of the season after a near one-month break. "I made a good start and was very aggressive on the opening lap. I think I was up to about P12, but from there on it was difficult because I was struggling with the balance and tyre performance," the Scot said. "Without the speed we did not have the flexibility to make the strategy work and points were looking out of reach. Towards the end of the race the team called me to the pits because it seems we had picked up a hydraulic issue, similar to the problem with the other car. Over the summer break we will regroup, analyse things properly and take a fresh approach into the second part of the year," he added. Sutil said, "It`s disappointing not to finish, especially as the race was coming back to me after a poor start on the medium tyres. Just before my pit stop I had a problem with the gear shifts and I could not shift up any more. I came into the pits and it became clear we had a hydraulic problem so the team immediately told me to park the car." Team Principal Vijay Mallya acknowledged that it was not the easiest of weekends for them. "With the next race coming up in four weeks? time, we will analyse our performance and work hard to recapture our form in Spa," he said. PTI