Sahara Force India completed a busy practice programme in Singapore with 119 laps covered between the two cars during the day.
The Silverstone based squad had quite a comprehensive test programme which they split between the two cars. The aim was understanding the new aerodynamic updates and the mechanical test items on the car: from this perspective, both cars ran reliably and they got all the data they needed to make adjustments before qualifying on Saturday evening.
Sergio Perez ended the day as the quicker of the two with the eighth fastest time and despite being are fair way behind pace setter Daniel Ricciardo, the Mexican driver was happy with how the day unfolded.
“I feel very happy with how things have gone today,” he said. “We had some new parts on the car and everything appears to be working well. It was probably our best Friday of the year in terms of what we learned and the improvement we made with the car. Qualifying is very important here so we need to make the most of tomorrow. There is still room to improve and I think we can be strong in qualifying. I'm enjoying things so far and it's great fun driving these cars around this circuit.”
Meanwhile teammate Esteban Ocon was two places further back in tenth overall as he tested several new parts.
Commentators made a massive fuss over their new aero parts that resembled a large two sided comb along the top of the engine cover, which comprised of 45 little winglets.
“It was a busy day on my side of the garage with lots of different parts to test,” the Frenchman said. “The first session was not so easy, but we found a good direction in the evening session so I'm feeling positive overall. The car has improved a lot during the day and we have done lots of homework in preparation for tomorrow.”
