Force India wants to stay on the right track in Barcelona

A podium for Sergio Pérez at the Bahrain Grand Prix, a third place in the Constructors' Championship... Force India could hardly hope for more at the start of the season. The objective for the Indian team will now be to stay on this trend by approaching the European season which will begin this weekend with the Spanish Grand Prix. “It’s encouraging to see our performances on all these different circuits and I’m optimistic that we can remain competitive in Barcelona.”, comments owner Vijay Mallya. “China has never had a route that has been particularly successful for us and leaving there with ten points was a very good performance (6th place for Nico Hulkenberg and 9th for Sergio Pérez). We also expect that the car be faster with the heat and that the next races suit us more. But we also know that the F1 never rests and Barcelona always represents a key moment in the race for development. »

Nico Hülkenberg can be calm before the resumption on the Catalunya circuit since he occupies fourth place in the Championship. But the German knows that the Barcelona track is more demanding than it seems. “Even though we know the place well, it remains a difficult circuit which requires us to optimize the balance of the car. You can waste a lot of time by not being comfortable behind the wheel. Barcelona is also a real test for aero downforce with the fast corners in the first two sectors. Traction also plays an important role in the last part which has slow corners where we should be performing well. »

The former Sauber driver will still be looking to gain the advantage over his teammate Sergio Pérez who has only scored half of his points after the first four Grands Prix. “I love coming back to Europe to race on several classic circuits. I love Barcelona, ​​it’s one of my favorite circuits on the calendar”, assures the Mexican. “The track is very complete with a mixture of everything and very long and very fast turns. It's physically demanding, especially on the neck with all those right turns, but it's fun to drive in an F1 car. It's always an event where teams make changes and it will be interesting to see how everyone does. »