First point beckons for Force India

By Alan Baldwin

NUERBURGRING, Germany (Reuters) - Force India hoped their long wait for a first point in Formula One was coming to an end after Adrian Sutil qualified seventh for his home German Grand Prix on Saturday.

With police and lawyers turning up at the team motorhome on Friday morning seeking to seize property as part of a long-running legal dispute with a contractor, Force India's fortunes turned as quickly as the fickle local weather.

Sutil was third quickest in Saturday's second phase of qualifying (Q2) to send the Mercedes-powered team through to the final top 10 for the first time.

Car weights published after qualifying showed that, far from running light on fuel to impress the home crowd, Sutil actually had the heaviest car of those on the first five rows of the starting grid.

The two Ferraris of Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finland's Kimi Raikkonen behind him were both lighter.

"I'm really happy, for sure one of F1's happiest guys today," said Sutil, who has been tantalisingly close to points before only to have his hopes cruelly dashed at the last moment.

"It's my home race and my best qualifying position so far in F1, so it was a great qualifying for us.

"It was very tricky with the weather but our decisions were very good and on time, particularly in Q2 with the rain," he added.