Sutil to start 10th in Bahrain GP tomorrow

Manama (Bahrain): India`s Karun Chandhok will make his F1 debut in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in the last row, while Force India driver Adrian Sutil will be 10th on the grid here tomorrow. Hispania Racing driver Chandhok`s 2:04.904 timing was not good enough to qualify for the second qualification and the Indian driver finished at the bottom at the 24th position. However, it was a brilliant day for Vijay Mallya-owned Force India as Sutil made it to the third and final qualifying session and his best lap of 1:56.309 put him at the fifth row. His teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi will start 12th tomorrow having made it to Q2 but failing to qualify for Q3. "I`m very happy. I think it was a great achievement to go into Q3 at the first race: our best start to the season for a long time. The team should be very proud of it, I am very proud of this, so let`s see how it goes tomorrow," Sutil said. "Our goal is now to finish in the points. At the moment I`m in tenth and hopefully we can make one or two positions up as I`m the only car on the hard tyre so it may be an advantage." "I`m surprised that the others were on the soft tyres so our decision could pay off tomorrow. We are strong under heavy fuel loads but we were very fast in Q1 and Q2 when everyone was on soft tyres so there are a few more positions we could gain. We worked very hard over the winter and over the last four years and it`s nice to see it giving dividends now," Sutil added. Force India chairman and team principal Mallya said the result showed the extent of hard work put up by his team. "I think the whole team can be very proud of this result. It`s a great start to the season and a mark of how much progress we have made over the winter. Last season we didn`t get through to Q2 in this race and this year we`ve got both cars in the top 12," Mallya said. "Of course that`s not a precursor to getting points, which is what really matters, but it does give us a much better chance. Particularly positive is that Adrian is starting the race on the harder tyre, unlike the rest of the top ten, so should be well-placed to capitalise as the softer tyre degrades in the warm conditions. I can`t wait for tomorrow`s race now!," he added. At the top, Sebastian Vettel secured Red Bull`s first pole position, beating Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso on the Ferraris. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes finished fourth, while his teammate and last year champion Jenson Button finished eighth, one behind seven-time formula one world champion Michael Schumacher. PTI