Friday: Encouraging Debut for Jules Bianchi
Jules Bianchi completed his first laps in a F1 car during a Grand Prix and the Frenchman was thrilled with the experience, even though he hoped to drive a bit more. The two official drivers of the Sahara Force India team were satisfied with the work done on this first day because the VJM05 already seems competitive.
Nico Hülkenberg – 14th and 9th
The first session was very short due to the mixed weather, but the laps completed were useful as I managed to do a few laps with the Mediums by late morning. Then, we had a good second practice session in the dry, which allowed us to achieve our objectives with long runs and tire testing. I already have a good feeling with the car: it’s pleasant to drive and I’m happy with its balance.
Paul Di Resta – 8th (free practice 2)
This was a solid session this afternoon and a positive start to our race weekend. The base settings were pretty good to begin with, and we worked on improving them during this session. Regarding the tires, I would say that the Mediums and Softs are quite similar, and we managed to collect interesting data during the long runs with these two specifications.
Jules Bianchi – 20th (Free Practice 1)
« It was my first practice session in Formula 1 and my first time on the Shanghai circuit, so I had to learn a lot of new things. We tried as many things as possible, but the weather complicated our task and we couldn’t cover many laps. After the installation lap, the track was still wet in quite a few places, but it started raining, and we decided to wait for the conditions to improve.
I then went out for a timed lap with intermediate tires at the end of the session before switching to slicks, but the grip was really precarious, and it was difficult to push to the limit. It was a great working session with the team, and every moment in the car is always an interesting experience.
