Force India: a quiet start to the weekend for the fourth-placed team in the Championship
Following the fine performance of the two Force Indias at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Vijay Mallya's men enter the final leg with a 27-point lead over their rivals Williams. An almost definitive lead, in short, which means they can look forward to the rest of the programme in Yas Marina with confidence.
On this Friday, there were three Force India drivers. Once again, Alfonso Celis replaced Nico Hülkenberg for the first session. For the sixth time this year, the young Mexican driver (20 years old) got into the cockpit of the VJM09.
This day started under positive auspices: it was completed without any issues for the entire garage, with a large amount of information stored for the rest of the weekend. The drivers tested the three tire components: ultra-softs and super-softs during FP1 for Sergio Pérez; Nico Hülkenberg used the softs and then the ultra-softs during FP2.
Of course, the objective remains the same for the Indian team: to consolidate their fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Sergio Pérez -> FP1: 6th (1:44.155, 23 laps); FP2: 8th (1:42.041, 35 laps)
Sergio Pérez, who participated in both practice sessions, reported having a good day. He will personally aim to maintain the seventh place in the Drivers’ Championship with 97 points, compared to 85 points for Valtteri Bottas, his closest pursuer, which would be his best overall result.
The former McLaren driver described his day as constructive: « It was a positive day for us. We managed to complete our program and gathered plenty of information that we need to analyze tonight. Looking at the times achieved, I don’t see any big surprises. We are where we thought we would be before the weekend started. And we have prepared well for the race. »
The track has evolved a lot between the two sessions, especially the drop in temperatures between FP1 and FP2. But I think we are on the right path in terms of settings. I think we did a good job and I am looking forward to tomorrow.
Nico Hülkenberg -> FP2: 9th (1:42.264, 36 laps)
For his final weekend with the team, the German only took the wheel of his single-seater at the end of the day. But this didn’t seem to mean a loss of track time for him, given that the temperatures during qualifying and the race will be those he experienced during FP2.
On the contrary, the future Renault driver felt relatively comfortable behind the wheel of his single-seater: « I was in the car only for the second session. But it wasn’t a big disadvantage because these are the conditions we will have during the qualifying session and during the race. I felt quite good with the car. I was even able to find a good rhythm fairly quickly. »
« There is still work to be done with the car’s balance, because it is not quite what I want yet, but we should be able to solve that during the evening. »
