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Force India's chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer says that the team collected critical data on Friday in Barcelona. The Silverstone-based squad arrived in Spain on the back of its first podium finish since the European Grand Prix in 2016.
Sergio Perez came home in third place a fortnight ago in Baku, to take his first podium of the year. Force India came to Barcelona on a high and with a number of upgrades to the floor, barge boards and front wing. Szafnauer stated that the team was happy with its results after Friday running.
"It’s been a productive start to our weekend, despite some tricky conditions. Our work today was mostly aimed at evaluating new aero parts – floor, barge boards and front wing – as well as gathering data about the tyre compounds. The wind was reasonably high and it caught a few drivers out but we managed to collect all the critical data we needed to help our preparations for the weekend."
However, it wasn't completely smooth for the team, as it was fined €5,000 when it unsafely released Perez out of the pit box. The left front tyre wasn't attached to the car properly, but the stewards determined that a grid penalty was not necessary.
"There was a small problem with Sergio’s left front wheel at the end of the session, the cause of which we are investigating, but it only cost us a minimal amount of track time," Szafnauer said.
And he is confident over the team's chances for the rest of the weekend: "We are in pretty good shape ahead of the weekend with plenty of data to analyse tonight so that the team can make the right decisions for qualifying and the race.”
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