Sutil: Force India achieved its maximum

He came through to ninth position in Melbourne after qualifying poorly and then damaging his front wing at the start.

"We did a good job today, we had no problems and this was our pace - we couldn't really have done better," said the German. "We just need to find some downforce.

"For tomorrow, I want to have a good race and to get to the finish. We are very quick down the straights and there is some potential for overtaking so let's see - we had an exciting race in Melbourne and anything can happen. I am still positive."

Sutil's team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella was one place ahead despite a throttle pedal issue.

"I had a problem with the throttle pedal on the first run so we changed it and I lost the chance to do three runs, which was very important," he said.

"The lap I did was clean and the car is well balanced. Again the field is very mixed and with the chance of some rain we should look to keep up with the field and take any chance we can."