After a promising few days of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya last week, the
Force India F1 team heads to this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix more determined than ever to break into the second phase of qualifying.
Veteran
Giancarlo Fisichella has missed the cut by the smallest of margins in each of the past two races, but helped the team to find a chunk of time during the Barcelona test, as the VJM01 ran with its first real package upgrade of the season. Having run in the midfield in Bahrain and got both cars to the finish, the team is buoyant heading to Barcelona.
"The VJM01 seems to be moving forward with each race, and the Barcelona test confirmed this very clearly," Fisichella said, "It has more grip overall, but especially under braking, so it is more stable and we are able to push. We've gone from a 1min 22.2secs lap around Barcelona in February to a 1min 20.7secs at the test last week which, even if some is down to improved track conditions, it is still a step forward.
"With new aero parts coming in Spain, I am pretty sure we can carry on with this progress as all the parts that have been fitted to the car so far have worked really well - our aero department has got the right ideas. The Spanish Grand Prix will be as close as it has been in the past and, if we play it right, I think we have a good chance. Our closest opponents at the moment are probably Toro Rosso and
Honda - we are all just outside the point-scoring area and are fighting for any chance, so I want to be there fighting again and taking advantage of anything that comes our way."
With passing at a premium in Barcelona, qualifying takes on even more significance, and chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne is hoping that the latest development parts have the desired effect this weekend.
"We have been very close to getting into Q2 and that has to be a target," he insisted, "We have also shown that we can race very competitively, so now we have to be racing to get into the top ten and maybe even pick up a point. Overall, we can go to Barcelona feeling very positive.
