Force India: Hulkenberg, “We can be satisfied with what we learned today”

Sahara Force India completed a solid day of free practice at Sepang, in preparation for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.
 
Nico Hulkenberg
L1: 1:41.642 P8 19 laps
L2: 1:40.691 P10 34 laps
 
“I think we can be satisfied with what we learned today. We worked through the entire program and there were no major problems as far as I'm concerned. Of course, the heat here means conditions are difficult and we found tire management on the long run very challenging. It is even more difficult this year because there is no more wheel spin with these engines and the rear degradation is quite high. We have collected the usual data for the tires and set-up, and I think there is still room for improvement. I need a little more grip and we need to adjust the balance before the final practice.”
 
 
Sergio Perez
L1: No time P20 2 laps
L2: 1:41.671 P16 25 laps
 
“It wasn't an easy day, because I missed most of the morning session and that limited my testing with the hard compound. In the afternoon we tried to improve the car, but I feel that we still need to make a big step tonight to be ready for qualifying. The tire performance gap is not large, but we suffered with high degradation on both tires.”