Friday: Force India falls behind at Silverstone

Sergio Pérez (No. 11) – 11th and 16th

The Mexican experienced a complicated day, not finding the pure rhythm of his VJM07: « It was a day full of challenges for us and we are a bit far from what we would have wished. We struggled with the balance during both sessions, and that means we couldn’t extract the maximum pace from the car. »

But Pérez expected it and remains confident for the future: « We knew that it was going to be a difficult track for us because of its layout and tonight we will review our settings to find the few tenths that can bring us back to our usual group. »

Nico Hülkenberg (No. 27) – 17th [FP2]

The German driver only drove this afternoon and also struggled, but expects improvements for tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday: « Only one session today for me and there was a lot of wind on the track. This made things more complicated, even though we know it’s a common situation here at Silverstone. It was a normal session for me, but we need to better analyze the situation tonight to draw the right conclusions for tomorrow. It’s the usual challenge of understanding the tires and improving the balance to position ourselves better. »

Daniel Juncadella (No. 34) – 14th [FP1]

The Spaniard was delighted to get back behind the wheel of an F1 on a familiar track: « It was very exciting today and a great opportunity to drive during my first free practice session on our home circuit. It’s a track I know well, and everything went smoothly. »

His objective was to learn and help the team properly prepare Hülkenberg’s car: « The challenge was to make the tires work, notably because of the harder compounds used here. The priority was to collect data for the team and provide feedback to help prepare the car for Nico this afternoon. »