Force India finish sixth quickest in test race

With a McLaren-Mercedes engine in place, Force India started the new season clocking the sixth quickest time among eight drivers after managing to complete just 31 laps on the full test day at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit today.

Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella gave the new VJM02 its initial laps, recording a promising 1:21.584 timing in the full test day of the 2009 season. Although the machine experienced some downtime during the initial runs because of the fuel system, Fisichella still managed to complete 31 laps and said the car was showing signs of consistency and stability.

"It is a bit frustrating as we could only do 31 laps today, especially as it is very important to try and get as many as possible as we are already late compared to the other teams," said Fisichella.

"I'm am however quite surprised and happy about what I felt with the behaviour of the car today. It's very promising and I felt much more consistency, even under braking, and more stability in the high-speed corners.

"We need to improve the traction a bit and also the over-steering after a few laps, but this is a problem others have had as well. The lap time is good and I am quite pleased as we did it with one set of new tyres and I know I can do much better than this.

"We are not that far away from the other people so I am looking forward to tomorrow and another day with more laps where we can try to improve the car a little bit and concentrate on reliability," the Italian added.