Force India hope for dry Saturday
Just like everyone else, Force India had a hard time in the wet track conditions to evaluate its new engine mappings. Finding consistency among different runs was a difficult task, and could make the rest of the weekend a gamble.
Paul Di Resta, VJM04/02:
FP1: P11 1:48.730 18 laps
FP2: P7 1:51.781 7 laps
“The track was wet all day so we didn’t get a chance to do any dry running. It was also quite windy and the conditions were not really consistent enough to do much useful running. However, we seem quite competitive and the balance of the car felt good right from the start of the day. It’s a shame to have missed out on some dry track time, but everybody is in the same position. It means we will have a lot of work to do tomorrow – assuming it is dry.”
Adrian Sutil, VJM04/04:
FP1: Did Not Participate
FP2: P6 1:51.738 18 laps
“I sat out the morning but drove in the afternoon. It started raining just before the session and the track remained very wet for the whole afternoon. I spent most of my time on the full wet tyre because there was a lot of standing water on the track. Then, at the end of the session, I was able to do my final run on intermediates. The forecast for tomorrow looks a bit better so we will hopefully get some dry track time.”
Nico Hulkenberg, VJM04/04:
FP1: P9 1:48.598 19 laps
FP2: Did Not Participate
“The rain this morning meant that I spent the whole session running on intermediates. It was pretty straightforward, with no dramas and I completed a few good runs. I worked a bit on the balance, tried the high downforce spec rear wing and compared it to our baseline rear wing to get some aero data.”
Dominic Harlow, Circuit Engineering Director:
“Both sessions today were dictated by the weather conditions and trying to find some kind of consistency between the showers to allow some objective testing. It's obviously difficult on days like today to gather good quality data, but we managed to evaluate some aerodynamic test items and work with the changes to engine mapping introduced for this race. Working in the new pit complex here has been great: I've been coming to Silverstone for a long time and like everyone else I am very impressed with what we have found. Looking forward, I think it's going to be an interesting weekend, firstly with the odd rain shower in prospect and because we have no dry tyre data from today which will inevitably impact race strategy.”
