Friday Report: Force India: More work to do to take a step forward

After gaining three points in Melbourne thanks to the disqualification of the two Saubers, the two Force India drivers are eager to confirm. It remains to be seen which of the two drivers will be able to do so, as Adrian Sutil was outpaced in both sessions by two drivers with little experience.

Adrian Sutil 11th and 17th

« We had a disappointing day. I barely got out of the first round this morning when I had trouble with the KERS, which affected the balance and power of the car for the entire session. The guys solved the problem in the afternoon, but we had an issue with the gearbox, the exact cause of which we still don’t know, and the car was difficult to drive. We need to understand the issues that are hindering the car because neither reliability nor speed is there at the moment. But we need to discuss this tonight and work on it for tomorrow. »

Paul di Resta Did not participate and 16th

« We achieved the program we wanted. It was a bit difficult to find the right set-up, but I think we found what we needed to be with old tires, or new ones, and also how to maintain them, given that they don’t seem to last as long as in Melbourne. Since I abandoned my first session here, I think I’ve been productive, and I hope we can analyze all that tonight to take a step forward tomorrow. »

Nico Hülkenberg 4th and Did Not Participate

« It was a very good Friday session for me. We ran with the hard tires for the first time, it was interesting and we gathered some good data. We also worked on the aerodynamics and I did a few good laps, which I’m happy about. Of course, fourth place is a good result, it’s where we would like to be, but it’s not realistic at the moment. Overall, it was a good session for the team, and I’m generally satisfied with this session. »

Dominic Harlow

«We accomplished our work today despite the high temperatures, particularly in the afternoon, and we are satisfied with our cooling levels, which tend to be really tested here. We had a few issues with Adrian’s (Sutil) car, but we will work on it tonight. The drivers experienced a high level of tire degradation on this very hot track, with some oversteering once the rear tires wore out. So it’s a different scenario than the Australian weekend, and we need to analyze the data to find the best set-up for the race considering the possible weather conditions and tire degradation. »