Despite introducing new aero package, Force India will start Sunday's British Grand Prix from the back of the grid with Adrian Sutil at 19th, just ahead of teammate Giancarlo Fisichella.
Force India's gamble of putting in a series of laps in the opening 10 minutes and then a final flying lap in the dying minute nearly paid dividends, with Fisichella almost breaking into the top 15 on his very last lap.
But a spin in the last sector dashed Fisichella's chance and the Italian finished 20th and his German teammate Adrian Sutil was just ahead in 19th.
The duo, however, were just three tenths from making it to Q2 and less than half a second from the top 10 for the first time.
Although some mechanical glitches cost them dear, the duo feels overall it was quite satisfactory at the end.
"It was quite a good qualifying for us as I think we could get nearly all the performance out of the car, although we had a little problem with graining on the front tyres that cost us a little bit of time. There is a better trend at the moment; we have a new update on the car, it works well and we are not too far away from the others - only about two tenths," Sutil said.
On the other hand, Fisichella although quite happy with the performance could not help thinking about the lost opportunity.
"Unfortunately I had a problem with the engine cover during the session and I lost some downforce as the right side of the car was in a bad position. That said, I was only three tenths away from Q2 so it's not too bad considering," Fisichella said.