Hulkenberg: “A beautiful day for Force India, we are fast with both compounds”

The first free practice session at the European GP was almost triumphal for Force India. As its owner Vijay Mallya had anticipated, the Indian team was very fast in Valencia, bringing two drivers into the top six.

Nico Hulkenberg finished FP2 in second place behind Sebastian Vettel: “Just a great session for me today, but everything went very well and we were able to complete a lot of work in the afternoon”, explained the German, only 131 thousandths behind the world champion. “I feel comfortable with the car and we managed to do good laps with both tire compounds. I think the key factor for the rest of the weekend will be managing the tires if the temperatures rise as expected and making sure we are able to deliver the same level of performance.", insisted Hulkenberg.

Paul Di Resta finished sixth in both FP1 and FP2, two and three tenths behind the leader in the two sessions. “When I got in the car this morning the baseline set-up was a good starting point and I didn't really change much for the rest of the day,” continued the Scot. “Our single lap speed is great, as is the long-term pace, and we seem to have good confidence in the tyres. Considering the pace, we demonstrated today that we are competitive, and we hope to be able to fight for the top ten in Qualifying tomorrow.", explained the Briton.

Lorena Bianchi