Despite the disruptions due to the weather at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during the opening pre-season test, the Sahara Force India F1 Team was still able to tick off a number of their tasks, according to chief race engineer Tom McCullough.
Sergio Perez took to the track for the first time on Thursday and completed sixty-five laps, adding to the seventy-nine completed by Esteban Ocon on Tuesday and the twenty-two completed by development driver Nikita Mazepin on Monday.
McCullough said the team managed to get some useful data on Thursday, and they will be able to turn their attention to evaluating tyres and working on the set-up of the car to find some performance gains during next weeks second test.
“The damp track this morning forced us to delay most of our running until the track conditions started to improve,” said McCullough. “When the circuit was suitable for dry tyres, we fitted a rake to the car and resumed the aero programme, adding to the data we gathered on Tuesday.
“We worked through various parameter changes and all the usual tasks for the first week with a new car. It’s not been the easiest of weeks, largely due to the weather, but we are gradually ticking off the jobs on the schedule.
“Next week’s programme will focus more on tyre evaluation and performance running.”
