The Sahara Force India team has decided to skip the opening pre-season test at Jerez that is due to start this Sunday.
A tweet on their official Twitter account confirmed their absence after initially deciding to run their 2014 VJM07 car at the test before bringing their 2015 VJM08 to the second test in Barcelona on the February 19-23.
“We have chosen not to run the old (2014) car in Jerez,” said the team’s tweet. “The learning opportunities would have been limited so the focus is now on Barcelona.”
The team are now focusing all their efforts on bringing their new car to the second pre-season test, with both Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez hoping they can catch up with their rivals who are bringing their new cars to Jerez this weekend.
Force India Technical Director Andrew Green has previously admitted to not being a fan of the Jerez track as a testing venue, with the tarmac being different to any other circuit they will run on during the season that will make testing with the new Pirelli 2015 tyres less important than it will be in Barcelona.
The team had launched its new livery for 2015 in a ceremony in Mexico City last week.
