Force India drivers Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg were both frustrated to miss out on any race simulation work after rain fell midway through second practice in Hungary. Di Resta, seventh fastest overall, didn't think the day was a write-off by any means though and still thinks they have gathered plenty of useful data.
“I think the most important thing today is that we managed to get some good information on some test items – which is something that has not been easy at previous races with the mixed weather. Even though it rained again this afternoon, we completed a lot of work before it arrived and have some useful set-up data going into the weekend. I managed to run on both the medium and soft compounds today, but we missed out on getting the long run data because of the rain.”
Hulkenberg meanwhile was a little more compromised having missed the morning session. The German did manage to get in plenty of set-up work before the rain but is going to have to wait until tomorrow to try the VJM05 on heavy fuel.
“Quite a positive day overall, but like everybody we missed out on getting the long run data. Apart from that, I felt comfortable in the session and we got through most of the set-up programme. I went out towards the end on intermediates to get a feel for the wet conditions, but the track was drying very quickly so there was not too much to learn.”
It was Jules Bianchi who drove the second Force India in FP1 and the Frenchman had a productive session trying out some development parts.
“Lots of laps for me today, which was useful and I'm getting more used to the car now. I started off by doing a lot of short runs so the team could evaluate some test items, then I did a couple of longer runs towards the end. It was difficult to find the limit and I was not totally comfortable with the car today, so I think there is some more laptime still to come. It's always valuable to get time in the car on a race weekend and hopefully the team will learn a lot from the data.”