Force India used two drivers on the first day of testing in Jerez. The new test driver Paul di Resta had his first test of the 2010 car in the morning, before regular driver Adrian Sutil took the wheel of the VJM03 in the afternoon.
The team had a productive day of testing, covering over 450km on a day disrupted by heavy rain showers and high winds.
Paul di Resta impressed with the new car, and is clearly excited about driving it in completely dry conditions. “Today was my first run in the new car and it felt pretty good. The objective was to get as much running as possible and we managed over 300km, which was a great effort, particularly given the bad weather conditions we had over the morning. It seemed to be drying out and then the rain would return again so you were in a sort of no man’s land with the tyres. Even with this type of weather though I could get an impression of the car. It seems stable and good all round, a genuine improvement on the car I drove last year. I’ll be back in the car in Barcelona and am looking forward to it already.”
Adrian Sutil could not get as clear a view on the new car thanks to the changing track conditions. “We did two long runs on the slick tyres but in the mixed conditions it was hard to get a view on the car. But at this stage all running is good and we’re ready to go out again tomorrow to get some more mileage and data on the car.”
