Sutil downplays incident with Alonso

German Adrian Sutil downplayed his clash with Fernando Alonso during the second practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Renault`s Alonso seemed to brake too late when running behind Sutil at the end of the pit straight, nearly losing control of his car.

The Spaniard ended up making contact with the Force India car`s rear, sending both into a harmless spin.

Sutil, however, played down the incident and said he was pleased with his day.

“The morning session was not great as the harder tyre was very hard and with the green track conditions it was difficult to get a balance,” said Sutil.

“In the afternoon it was much better with the softer tyre and for the first time I could feel a real difference between the two compounds, which was a definite improvement.

“I am quite happy as now we know we can work with the tyres, we can improve tomorrow.

“It was a shame in the last corner that there was that incident with Alonso, but it happens. It seemed he lost a bit of downforce under braking and locked up the rear but it wasn`t really a problem,” added Sutil, 19th quickest today.

Teammate Giancarlo Fisichella was 18th fastest, admitting he was not feeling completely comfortable with his car yet.

“It was not so easy to find the right set-up today: we have understeer in some corners, but then oversteer in others,” said Fisichella.

“At the end of the afternoon when we were ready to try new tyres we had a problem on the rear wing and I just left the pits too late to get a good lap in, so we couldn`t improve and do a good lap time.

“There are some small improvements with the new parts but we have some work to do overnight.”

4.4.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ Alonso, Sutil    ▪ www.autosport.com