14/06/2007
NEWS STORY
Adrian Sutil might have attracted widespread attention this season, leading to speculation that he'll be moving a little further up the pitlane in 2008, but that hasn't prevented Spyker giving the German, and his Dutch teammate, Christijan Albers, a wake-up call ahead of this weekend's United States Grand Prix.
Colin Kolles has revealed that he and Mike Gascoyne spoke to Sutil and Albers following last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix warning them that the accidents that eliminated both drivers were avoidable.
"We were racing other cars and towards the end of the race we were faster than other teams as Christijan was lapping quicker than Alex Wurz, who later finished on the podium," said Kolles. "Adrian too was a very strong prospect and, given the way the race went, we could have been in for a potential points finish. We got the strategy calls right, so the double DNF was clearly a missed opportunity.
"The retirements were avoidable and we know that," he continued. "We cannot continue making mistakes that ultimately cost us positions and points. As we have seen, anything can happen in a race and we need to be ready and waiting to take advantage. We can't afford to let opportunities go past like this.
"Both Mike and myself spoke to Adrian and Christijan after the race," he revealed, "and explained how we could not accept another situation like this. But the drivers know this themselves - they are their own harshest critics and if you can't take some constructive criticism then there is no place in any team for you. They understand and are as disappointed as we are, but now we have to move on."
"At a race where pretty well every team made some basic errors, we were very much on top of it on the pit wall," added Gascoyne. "We had the right strategy and it was going to come to us.
"In the end what should have been a great opportunity for us was lost through a couple of driving mistakes," he admitted, "and that's very disappointing. To compete at this level you've got to avoid mistakes.
"I think our pace was what we expected and closer to the cars in front than previously," he continued. "Yes, you've got to push to keep up, but you're an F1 racing driver, and you've got to drive to the limit.
"Look at Lewis Hamilton," said the Englishman, "he got very close to the walls in Monaco, he was close to the limit in Canada, but he got to the flag both times. You can't just say I'm pushing to the limit because the car's not quick enough. If you want to be a World Champion, you have to do every lap at the limit, like Alonso for the last couple of years, or Michael. That's the job!"
"Obviously I am very disappointed not to have finished the race," said Sutil following Sunday's race. "I just want to say sorry to the team as they have worked so hard all weekend and it would have been easy to have a points finish if I had not made a mistake."
Albers wasn't quite so contrite
"At the beginning of the race when I was fighting in the back I touched the wall a little bit," said the Dutch driver, "but I thought it was going to be OK and not a big issue, but then the car got more and more unbalanced as the race went on, especially the left front. Then at one moment I arrived at T8 and the car just went straight ahead into the wall. It seemed there was a problem with the wing, but obviously I am disappointed as we could have had a good finish."