10 September,2009 02:58 PM IST | | PTI
Before his Ferrari switch, Giancarlo Fisichella raised the bar with his second place finish in Spa and Force India's German driver Adrian Sutil says he is keen to emulate his former teammate in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.
It was a fairytale Force India weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix as Fisichella won the pole position and then notched up the team's first podium finish before joining Ferrari.
u00a0 |
Giancarlo Fisichellau00a0with Adrian Sutil (right) |
Aware of his responsibility to maintain the tempo, Sutil said he wanted to do something similar for the outfit, which has improved by leap and bounds this season.
"I cannot wait for the race," an excited Sutil said.
"Giancarlo had such a good weekend in Spa, with pole and then the podium, that it's really made me want to get in the car and do the same," he said.
Sutil finished a modest 11th in Spa and the German said he was far from happy with it.
"For various reasons, I didn't feel like I personally got the results in Spa. So for sure I will want to go better in Italy.
"We've got a good car, I feel very confident in it and in the team and our top speeds have consistently been among the quickest in the field. So I think we have a good shot at getting another good finish," said the lanky German.
Vitantonio Liuzzi, who will replace Fisichella, was also looking to put his best foot forward and said he would like to get some points under his belt to push the team up the championship ladder.
"My air is to give the best to the team and to try and bring as many points as possible," he said. "
"After Spa we set big aims for the future but it won't be that easy to finish on the podium for the remaining races. My biggest dream will be to get a podium, but being objective the most important thing is to score as many points to bring the team up the team championship order," Liuzzi said.
Sutil said he was looking to race at the track famous for its ambiance even though the driver seemed wary of the layout.
"Monza is one of those tracks that have so much history about it. The crowds are just incredible too. You can sometimes hear the crowd even over the engine so the atmosphere is always amazing. "The track itself can be quite tricky to get right, particularly under braking into the chicanes, so everything about the event is interesting for me," he said.
Sutil sounded confident that Liuzzi would make his mark.
"He's a good guy and we work well together, he's always been very open with information and he's done a great job in the testing and development. Together I think we can carry on the progress we've made so far and get some good results," he added.