Barcelona: Sahara Force India wrapped up its winter test programme on Sunday with Nico Hulkenberg covering 101 laps in the VJM05 as the team finalised its preparations for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Nico Hulkenberg said, “We managed to fit a lot in today and hopefully when we have been through all the data we will have learned a lot, too. The race weekend simulation was useful, but unfortunately my race distance was cut short, so we will rely more on the data from Paul’s run yesterday. We were also busy trying all the tyre compounds to learn more about tyre management and how to get the most from them. You always want more time in the car, but I think we can be pleased with how our three tests have gone. We still need to find some more performance because the whole grid looks very close and competitive, and I expect the grid in Melbourne to be extremely tight.”

Meanwhile Jakob Andreasen, Chief Engineer, said “Today’s programme was a continuation of our race preparations and gave Nico the opportunity to have a dress rehearsal before we arrive in Melbourne. We started the day by addressing some the issues we spotted during yesterday’s running and experimented with a few set-up solutions to try and ensure we develop a car that performs consistently across a wide operating window. That programme went well and allowed us to push ahead with our race weekend simulation in the middle of the morning. The race distance we had planned for the afternoon was interrupted by red flags, so we didn’t hit our mileage targets, but it did give Nico a chance to do some extended running.”

Day Four Stats
Chassis: VJM05-03
Laps: 101
Mileage: 470 km
Fastest lap: 1:22.312