Friday: A Slow Start for Force India

These initial tests did not set the hallways of the Force India motorhome alight. Good results were expected, but the drivers disappointed on this first day of testing at the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest. No better than 16th places for Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella.

The team suffered from several issues today such as lack of grip on the track causing understeer and oversteer. Consequently, the balance of the car is not good. Force India has a significant margin for maneuver and has the night to get back on track.

Adrian Sutil – 18th and 16th:

« Today was a difficult day. The grip level was low on the circuit, and it’s difficult to evaluate the tires. Balance is generally hard to find, and the car is difficult to drive. We have oversteer and understeer in medium corners with a lot of bumps. Grip levels are constantly changing, but we have a lot of data to continue working »

Giancarlo Fisichella – 16th and 17th:

« Everything went quite well today by sticking to the program. The balance for me wasn’t too bad, especially in the long run, but the track is still very weak in terms of grip. Unfortunately, on my last stint with new tires, I encountered traffic on the first lap, preventing me from heating the tires properly. I couldn’t improve my time with the new tires, but we know there’s more to come.

Dominic Harlow – Chief Race Engineer:

« During free practice 1, both cars conducted structured tests while the track gradually improved for data collection. It was very difficult to balance the car this afternoon, with the wind and warm temperatures. Nevertheless, both drivers worked diligently and apart from a minor issue that delayed Adrian [Sutil]’s outing, there were no serious problems. As expected, the available tires are interesting to analyze in order to prepare a good race strategy. »