FP1 & FP2 - Belgian GP report: Force India Mercedes

The threat of rain did not materialise as Sahara Force India completed a productive first day of practice for the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps.

Nico Hülkenberg

“Today was a solid day and we achieved all we wanted from our programme, which is a great way to start the weekend. Fortunately the weather was stable and dry and we could use our time in the most effective way. The car performed at a good level straight away from the start of the day and we collected a lot of useful data. It will be interesting to see the conditions tomorrow - the weather can change very quickly here so you can’t really rely on the forecasts.”

Sergio Perez

“It was a good day and we learnt a lot about the tyres and the balance. The long run pace looks good so I think we can look forward to a promising weekend. Hopefully we can get into the top ten tomorrow, putting us in a strong position to get big points on Sunday.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal

“Spa is a unique track for the 2014 cars and it is very important to maximise the performance of the power unit on the long straights. We were pleased the weather remained consistent throughout the day, allowing an uninterrupted programme. Track conditions didn’t change much between the two sessions, so we could carry out strategic tests to prepare for both qualifying and the race: we are happy with how it all went and we have gathered a lot of data for us to go through. We have shown a competitive long run pace and have got some good responses on the aero side. All in all, it’s been a very positive day and we are looking forward to the weekend.”