Apr.21 (GMM) Mike Gascoyne has made it clear that he also rates Adrian Sutil, the German race driver, as an asset of the Force India team.

The Silverstone based outfit's technical boss was quoted recently as saying the Roman veteran Giancarlo Fisichella is "fully deserving" of his seat on the formula one grid.

Some observers, however, remarked that - by omission - Gascoyne's comments could be interpreted as disparaging of 25-year-old Sutil's difficult start to the 2008 season.

"We obviously worked with Adrian last year and we know his talent and it is a good opportunity for him to have Giancarlo beside him," the Briton is quoted as saying by the Indian news agency PTI.

"Adrian has shown that he has the talent to be in formula one and race at the highest levels, and he is making fewer and fewer mistakes as he grows in experience," Gascoyne added.

Gascoyne insists that Sutil's problem has not only been the difficulty in keeping up with Fisichella.

He points out that in Australia and Malaysia, technical faults put him out of the race.

"In Bahrain, however, he was much closer to Giancarlo and was pushing him," Gascoyne said.