Sahara Force India Barcelona Test Report, 17 May

Sahara Force India completed nearly a century of laps during the first day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, with development driver Alfonso Celis at the wheel of the VJM09.Chassis: VJM09-02Laps: 99 lapsMileage: 461kmBest lap: 1:25.467 (P8)Alfonso Celis: “It was a very positive day with a lot of mileage and some good work with different tyre compounds. It was interesting to come back here after winter testing: the track and weather conditions are quite different and the same applies to the car, so it took a few runs to adapt. I feel more and more confident with the car, but I am still treading carefully not to make mistakes: my priority is to do the job the team is asking me to do, but hopefully I’ll be able to push a bit more tomorrow.”Tom McCullough, Chief Race Engineer“Alfonso did a good job for us today covering just shy of 100 laps. The morning was dedicated to aero work and test items, which involved a number of short runs to get the information we needed. The afternoon gave us the opportunity to start exploring some different set-up directions and Alfonso completed a couple of longer runs. The car ran reliably and Alfonso is working very well with the engineers giving us the feedback we need. Tomorrow’s programme will follow a similar approach to the work we’ve completed today.”r


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